Endless Darkness
by BeastlySquirrel
Summary: Sequel to Darkness. As Morgan and JJ recover, will they be able to find the monster that plagues their lives, or will he destroy all that they have left. JJ Morgan pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I'm back. I know I said I would start this, I don't know like 6 months ago, but with senior year starting I had way too many responsibilities on my plate, and still do, but this story has been a constant nagging in my mind, that I knew I need to at least give you something to start off. Now my updates will be random and sporadic, since school just started and homework is well random at best. BUT I will try to update whenever I can. I hope you enjoy this sequel to Darkness, this is JJ's and Derek's recovery, I hope I do it justice. Thank you to everyone who read Darkness, and for continuing to this sequel, I know that I suck at writing but thank you anyways for reading. :)**

* * *

"Derek it's been three months, I think its time to-"

"No." Derek interrupted "Penelope, she's not ready." He turned to see the petite blonde struggling to walk across the room with a nurse holding most of her weight. He rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "She's struggling."

"And what about you?" She asked

He took in a deep breath "I'll be better the moment the son of a bitch is finally behind bars." He lunged at the window when he saw JJ fall to the ground.

"Derek, it's okay." Garcia put a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him. Derek dug his nails into his palms, turning his knuckles white. "Derek. Derek!" Garcia yelled making JJ turn her head towards the door. "Derek you're bleeding." Morgan looked down at his hands and the small trail of blood trickling down his fingers. A nurse jogged over a pulled him into the next room. Garcia gave the concerned blonde a small smile through the window to reassure her before walking away.

* * *

JJ cautiously put her hands on the two parallel bars in front of her. "That's good Jennifer, now try and pull yourself up." A male nurse smiled. He held his arms out in case she was to fall. The blonde shakily pulled herself up finally standing on her own two feet after 3 months of bed rest. "Good, good." He lightly touched her forearm signaling to her that he was there for her if she needed it. "Want to try to take a step?" She didn't answer but uneasily lifted her right foot pressing fully onto the nurse for support. It felt so foreign to press her foot into the ground and put her weight onto it. She tried her left still putting most of her weight onto the nurse. "That's good Jennifer."

"It's JJ." She squeaked shaking off his hand from her arm. She tried her right again and took another step. "Okay JJ, take it slowly you don't want to fa-" JJ felt her left leg give out on her and hit the ground. The nurse instantly helped her sit up "Are you okay?"

She looked up to see Jason Wolfe kneeling in front of her a knife sticking out of his chest blood spilling out of his mouth. "Murderer!" He screamed blood gurgling in his throat "Murderer!"

"JJ?" The nurse waved his hand in front of her face trying to regain her attention

"I- I'm fine James. I was jus trying to do to much at once." She gave a small smile looking behind him to see nothing but a red ball in the place of the apparition.

"Derek!" JJ turned her head to the door shocked to see two of her friends standing behind the window. "I'm okay." She mouthed to the black man eyeing her concerned. She watched as a nurse pulled him away from the door, James tried to pull her attention back to her physical therapy. "How about we toss the ball to each other?" The blonde continued to stare at the now vacant door. "Or maybe go run 3 miles around the park and then go to the zoo."

"Huh?" the blonde turned her attention back to the man in front of her. "Did you say something?" James smiled "Yeah I said we made some progress today. So I guess we can take you back to your room." JJ nodded in response. James pulled a wheelchair close to JJ and helped her into the seat. He opened the door and wheeled her out of the room; JJ turned her head to see Derek sitting on a gurney while a nurse was wrapping his hands in gauze.

* * *

Morgan lifted his head and watched the blonde roll past him. "Derek." Garcia snapped her fingers in front of his eyes trying to make him focus. Morgan turned his head back to the nurse, "Uh, sorry, I just wasn't paying attention, I sometimes forget where I'm at and what I'm doing. Am I good?"

"Agent Morgan, I would advise you to see our psychologist to work on your daydreaming." The nurse gave a weary smile before leaving the two agents.

"Derek you need to see the therapist." Garcia whispered as Morgan slid off the gurney. "Baby Girl I'm fine, I was just concerned for her." The two began to walk down the bright hallway like they had for the past month following JJ to and from the PT room and back to her own room. "I know, but there's concern, and there's overprotecting." He stopped walking "Penelope he's still out there, he's waiting to attack again, to finish the job." She bit her bottom lip hearing the same fearful words over and over again from her best friend made her sick. "The team is doing everything we can to find him."

"Not enough" He muttered under his breath, they continued walking to JJ's room in silence. Garcia followed chewing on her bottom lip unable to formulate her thoughts into words. Reid stood beside a local officer talking about the latest episode of Doctor Who when Derek and Garcia walked up. "Hey guys." Reid smiled before noticing the silent tension between the two. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." Morgan brushed off quickly before entering the room closing the door behind him, Garcia remained outside. Reid looked to Garcia for a more in depth answer. "I'll tell you later. Where's the rest of the team?"

Reid gave the officer an awkward wave before walking down the hall to talk to Penelope. "Rossi is talking to his NSA contacts for anything on Curtis, and Hotch and Blake are going over her resignation papers." Garcia looked at Reid shocked "She's leaving?" Reid nodded "Yeah."

Garcia bit her bottom lip at the new information. "Because of Curtis?"

Reid shrugged "I have no idea, it was definitely a blindside. So how is Morgan doing?"

She sighed, "He's not opening up, both of them, they're just bottling it up and its killing them. Derek hasn't slept in two days, JJ isn't eating, both aren't going to their therapist and when they do they don't talk at all. I don't know what to do, I feel helpless and I can tell they need help."

Tears filled her eyes; Reid pulled her into his chest embracing her. "When they're ready they'll open up. Trust me it'll be okay."

* * *

"Are you okay?" JJ asked as Derek walked in, he gave her a small smile before sitting down beside her on the bed.

"I'm fine, I just- just saw us back in that room." JJ placed her hand on his cheek. "Watching you fall, made me remember every time you would get…"

"Derek it's okay."

"And how I couldn't do anything to stop it. I hated that feeling. I told myself I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

JJ pressed her forehead to his; she felt his warm uneven breaths on her face. "I'm okay. You're okay. It's over and we won. He's dead. It's over." She placed her lips on his trying to calm his ragged breaths. He pressed back holding her head in his two bandaged hands. They unlocked to regain their breath putting their heads together feeling each other's breaths mixing with their own. "Say it." She whispered

"It's over." He answered placing his lips back on hers, in the back of his mind he felt a sharp pang at the lie he tried to make himself believe.

A doctor knocked at the door. Alerting her presence to the two locked together. They pulled apart looking at each other and then to the doctor who interrupted them.

"Good evening Agents." She awkwardly chirped walking in and examining JJ's file at the end of the bed. "I see you took a few steps today Agent Jareau, that's excellent. Now if only we could get you to eat." She joked with no laughter in return she coughed and continued to the read the file in silence. "Well you've made excellent progress, but Agent Morgan it's time for you to go back to your own room for the night." Morgan didn't object to the doctor's orders, but instead gave JJ another kiss before rising from the bed. "Sweet dreams." He joked, JJ laughed at the sarcastic comment "You too." He smiled, both of them joking about their poor sleep regiment from the constant nightmares that plagued their minds, that was progress to them, not taking three steps or eating, but being able to cope with the constant reminders of their personal hells. "I'll be back in the morning for breakfast." He winked before walking with the doctor out of the room. "Good night." She whispered. A pressure slowly began to form in her chest as the room was engulfed in silence. Jason stood in the doorway casting a shadow over her bed. Another figured appeared that she knew was herself holding a knife that glinted off the lights from the room. She watched as the blonde moved thrusting the knife into his chest which began turning red. She gasped at the sight of the man crumpling to the ground a pool of blood beginning to surround him, as the blonde holding the bloody knife walked closer to her. "You're a killer..." The blonde morphed into the man with icy blue eyes "Just like me." His sinister laughed filled the room. "No!" She screamed into her pillow covering her eyes hoping to get rid of the figures standing before her. "It's over, he's dead, it's over" she repeated over and over again into the pillow trying to calm herself.

It was hours before JJ finally found some sleep in her dark room. It didn't last long before fire and the lifeless blue eyes plagued her dreams turning her mind into a prison without any escape. She woke to a loud noise her body covered in sweat. "He-hello?" She squeaked, "Is somebody there?" the room gave her no response, she swallowed the lump forming in her throat and closed her eyes trying to fall back asleep. This time she awoke to a sudden brightness invading her dark room. A nurse came through her door and walked to her IV bag beside her. He pulled out a syringe and connected it to the IV Drip. A surgical mask covered the nurse's face, but the icy blue eyes that plagued her mind were unable to mistake even in the dimly lit room. She gasped as she realized who stood beside her. "Shhh. This should keep you from screaming. Remember this?" He chuckled showing her the syringe as her body became limp beside her. She remembered this feeling the memory of him violating her etched into the forefront of her mind. JJ's eyes showed the fear of seeing a ghost before her. "Thought I was dead didn't you?" He smiled running his fingers through her blonde hair. "You should know by now that unless you shoot me yourself, I'm alive." He twirled his fingers through her hair, and leaned over to smell her hair. "Strawberries and fear." He chuckled. "Three months has been to long, but I've spent my time watching your son. He's grown up a bit, loves soccer, a bit of a natural, I bet he gets that from you." His fingers slid down to her arms and began to trace the scars from her time with him. "Jack's like a big brother to Henry, the two are inseparable." He lifted up her gown to reveal the still healing wounds on her abdomen his fingers lightly traced the stitches holding her skin together. "They just love to watch superhero movies, especially the Avengers, I guess they get that from you both." He pressed the wound making one of the stitches come undone. He whispered into her ear. "I told you I would destroy all of you, I've realized that the best way to get to all of you is to take out the ones that you would protect for eternity. Like a parental protection being stripped away. I'll take good care of them." He chuckled pulling out an object from his pant pocket and placing it on the table. "Have a nice night Agent Jareau." He leaned in a kissed her on the lips before replacing the mask and walking out the room, leaving JJ paralyzed frightened as the nightmare that was only in her mind was now back in her reality.

* * *

 **Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I love reading your reviews and responses, so please review. If you have any suggestions feel free to put them in, and I will try to accommodate the best I can, if I did something that sucked or that needs more clarification please tell me and I will try to fix it.**

 **As always, review, favorite, follow, comment, suggest, message me, or do whatever floats your boat :)**

 **I'll update as soon as I possibly can.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty. Well its been about a week and I finally finished the chapter. This is a three day weekend with labor day tomorrow so hopefully I can write a little bit more than usual with the holiday for chapter 3. Thanks to** ** _kazzyshah, Liasonfan75, Kensi1997, Jareau37_** **, and** ** _Brangelina_** **for reviewing. And as I promised here is chapter 2 to Endless Darkness. I hope you enjoy and I hope it is okay to all of you.**

* * *

JJ laid in her bed paralyzed by the drug Curtis had injected her with. Those cold blue eyes burned into her mind, made tears force their way to the surface rolling down her cheek and soaking the thin sheets covering the bed, _I thought he was dead. How is he alive?_ JJ tried to move her fingers, toes, anything to break the drug's hold on her. She screamed inside her mind trying to fight the affects of the drug. Her eyes spastically searched the room making sure she was alone; she wished to curl up into a ball and cry, however Curtis had another hold on her.

* * *

"Good Morning." A female nurse whispered as she walked into JJ's hospital room. Turning the lights on dim as she entered. The nurse received silence, but to her it wasn't uncommon, usually the agent would finally fall asleep as she was entering to make her daily rounds. The nurse grabbed the clipboard at the foot of the bed while making her way towards the monitors and IV. She noticed that the IV bag was out of place, but shrugged it off moving it back to its normal location. She looked down at the sleeping agent, and jumped back at the sight before her. "Oh My Heavens!" She yelled placing her hand on her chest trying to calm her accelerated heart rate. She looked at the still blonde who eyes were severely bloodshot even in the dimly lit room. "Are you okay sweetie?" No answer, not even a shrug to brush off the question. "Did you have a bad dream…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down at the syringe dangling from a tube connecting to JJ. "Wha-." The nurse frantically lunged towards the wall and pressed a button, sending a shrill tone echoing down the halls. Another female nurse rushed into the doorway frazzled by the emergent tone. "Page Dr. Walsh and get Dr. Lewis, and call Agent Hotchner at the FBI." The female in the door nodded before vanishing from the room. Another nurse entered into the room flipping on the lights fully as he ran towards the bed.

"What happened?"

"Somebody injected her with something."

* * *

Morgan shot up in his bed as a shrill tone rang through his ears. 'JJ." He muttered under his breath. He jumped out of his bed and exited his room running towards the room at the end of the hall.

Derek busted into the room instantly going to JJ's side. He grabbed her hand and felt its lifelessness, her eyes staring at the ceiling full of fear, instantly knowing what occurred during the night. Her eyes moved to him and flashed with betrayal and anger. "Sir, you shouldn't be in he-"

He yanked his shoulder away from the nurse's grasp. "I'm Agent Derek Morgan with the FBI, she was injected with a neuromuscular-blocking drug. It's commonly used with an anesthetic during a surgery." Remembering the first time John Curtis had injected JJ with the drug, explaining its affects. "Don't touch anything else, this room needs to be searched and dusted for evidence and prints."

The nurses gave each other looks, confused as to why another patient was claiming to be an FBI agent and ordering them to stop. "What happened?" Dr. Lewis said jogging into the room.

"James she's been drugged with a neuromuscular-blocker."

He pressed the button on the wall again ceasing the shrill tone," Kaylee, Paul, take a step back please." The nurses nodded and back away from the bed and clung to the walls curious about the mystery that was unfolding. "I told a nurse to call Agent Hotchner." Kaylee blurted

"Good, now call agents Rossi and Reid, and Penelope Garcia as well." Dr. Lewis lightly pressed his fingers to her wrist, and turned around to see the two nurses still mesmerized by the spectacle "Now!" the nurses scrambled out of the room eyes still locked on the blonde in the bed until they were gone.

"JJ are you okay?" Morgan asked rubbing her hand inside his own, she locked eyes with him showing her pain and the question of if he knew Curtis was still alive. He understood exactly what she was asking through her eyes, he bit his bottom lip before answering. "I'm sorry..." She slid her eyes away, a tear rolled down her face; she tuned him out for his apology. _He knew! He lied to me._ Dr. Walsh sprinted into the room, James continued checking the monitors as he spoke "She was injected with Succinylcholine, I was going to give her 60 CCs of sugammadex to counteract its affects."

"40CCs, we don't know how much of the drug is still in her system. Giving her too much could make her go into cardiac arrest. 40CCs." Dr. Walsh calmly spoke following by James nodding before he pressed a syringe into a separate tube streamlining the drug right into JJ's bloodstream.

Morgan rose from his kneeling position and placed his hands on top of his head. He paced back in forth trying to calm his rapid breaths. _How did this happen? How did he get in here? Why wasn't I here to protect her? I broke my promise._

"Agent Morgan!" Dr. Lewis shouted breaking Derek's pacing "I want to you to focus on JJ, and take deep breaths." He paused making sure the black man was listening to his words. "JJ is fine, nobody is going to hurt her, and it's safe. Repeat that for me." Derek took in a deep breath before speaking. "JJ is fine… nobody is going to hurt her, it's-" He stopped his eyes drifting to a small object lying on the bedside table

"Agent?"

Derek put his hands down and made his way to the table, never moving his eyes away from the object. "It's a chess piece…" He crouched to become eye level with the piece. "A queen covered in blood."

* * *

"Garcia go find the security footage, whatever happened hopefully it was caught on tape." Hotch commanded walking briskly down the hallway the rest of the team following close behind. Garcia nodded and turned down an adjacent hallway while the team continued on their path.

"Hotch!" Morgan shouted seeing his Unit Chief barreling towards him.

"Morgan what happened?"

"Curtis came last night, drugged her with succa-… succin-…ugh, a neuromuscular blocking drug, he also left a calling card."

The group walked into the room where Dr. Walsh and Lewis were standing near the bed that was inhabited by a statue-like blonde. "JJ can you try moving your fingers or toes." James asked sweetly

A tiny furrow began on her forehead as she tried to wiggle any of her digits. A tiny twitch from her pinky made her eyes light up with joy. James smiled at the blonde and asked her for another appendage to move as the team entered.

"Agents." Walsh boomed welcoming the group. "I'm sorry to say that JJ was attacked last night. We fixed her stiches, and began administering sugammadex which is a counteragent to Succinylcholine a neuromuscular blocker."

Morgan lifted up a baggie resting on the bedside table to the team.

"A queen chess piece" Rossi stated the obvious object in the transparent bag

"Zugzwang." Reid spit the word out like poison, knowing full well the term's definition. "The queen is the most moved piece in a chess game, usually the piece that takes out most of the opponents pieces, a coveted piece that is necessary for a person to win in most cases. It' also know as the most cherished piece and seen as the most iconic piece for chess besides the king." Reid explained

"It's covered in blood as well."

"Blood can have many meanings." Reid stated "A pact or promise, those who have died or will die, so to put the blood on the queen could have multiple meanings."

"But Curtis is meticulous-" Hotch began

"So whose blood is on the piece." Dr. Lewis interrupted

* * *

It had been hours since the sugammadex had been in JJ's system. She closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears on the verge of spilling out. She whimpered as the thought of his touch on her skin surfaced, the feeling of his lips pressing against hers made her stomach twist into knots. "Henry." She hoarsely whispered. Her eyes shot open remembering Curtis' words. Her heart rate increased dramatically causing Dr. Lewis to rush into the room. "JJ, I need you to calm down. The counteragent in your system can send you into cardiac arrest and stressing yourself out will only increase your chances of a heart attack."

"Hotch." She squeaked barely able to move her mouth "Need… Hotch"

Dr. Lewis gave her a nod "I'll get him but you need to take a deep breath." The doctor briskly left the room. JJ closed her eyes trying to focus on moving her chest to take in a deep breath, but the thought of Curtis having her child kept her anxiety high as two men walked into her room.

"JJ?" Hotch asked sitting at her side. Dr. Lewis kept his eyes glued on the monitor watching for a sign that would tell him she was slipping.

She strained "Curtis… watching" her eyes grew vexed as she struggled to say the names of their kids "Jack and Henry." Aaron grabbed his phone dialing a number. "I'll have Anderson pick them up right away."

"Thank-you." She whispered

Morgan stood at the door way and knocked alerting the three in the room to his presence.

JJ instantly looked away, a pang of guilt shot through Derek's body; he gave a sigh before speaking.

"Hotch, Garcia has the results on the blood, and the footage from last night."

Aaron held the phone to his ear in one hand, and nodded to Derek as he rose to leave. He grabbed JJ's hand with his empty one and squeezed lightly. "I'll get them her." He whispered before leaving.

"Anderson, I need you to go get Henry Lamontague, and Jack Hotchner out of their schools now." He waited for a response and ended the call, walking with Morgan down the hall.

* * *

Rossi and Reid were huddled around a computer as Morgan and Hotch joined them.

"Welcome, first off, Curtis posed as one of the nurses assigned to JJ's room, showed his ID to the guard posted outside her door and boom he was in. and out in 5 minutes. I followed him down to the first floor, but the cameras blur out as he walked into the parking garage. Also, CSU came back with the mystery blood on the chess piece." Garcia's voice boomed from the computer. "And the winner is Jason Wolfe. Curtis' dead expendable accomplice."

Everyone stood around the computer confused. "Why would Curtis leave a chess piece with Wolfe's blood on it?" Rossi asked

Morgan stood in silence mulling over the new information. He bit into his bottom lip before speaking up. "I'm gonna go talk to JJ."

He walked towards the blonde's room finally connecting Curtis' sick clues in his head.

* * *

"James do you mind if I talk with JJ alone?" Morgan asked walking into the room. The doctor didn't respond. "Dr. Lewis." He said sternly, causing the man to turn. James nodded and walked out of the room shutting the door behind him.

"We need to talk." He said slowly sinking into the chair by her side.

She turned her eyes to the ceiling. "I don't…want to talk to you." She forced

"It was Jason Wolfe's blood on the chess piece."

She took in a sharp breath, but stayed silent. Curtis once again playing with her mind. Plastering the man's, whom she murdered, blood onto a chess piece that clearly represented her for the entire team to find out. A twinge of guilt rushed through her as she thought about his name. _Curtis should be dead,_ she thought, _you told me he was dead._ She shifted her eyes to his with confusion and pain.

"Don't look at me like that." He huffed

"Like what?"

"Like I've been living a lie."

"Haven't you." She spit back at him "How long have you known?"

He sighed, he known the moment he woke up three months ago he kept it a secret from her to protect her from the monster, and yet she learned the truth from Curtis "That evening after we were rescued." He closed his eyes and bit into his bottom lip  
"Did you ever feel guilty for lying right to my face." She hissed

It felt like a knife had been plunged into his heart. "Of coarse, every time I comforted you, I felt like a piece of me was dying for living the lie, hell there were times that I thought maybe he had died. I wanted to tell you but-"

"But What? Was I too weak!" JJ screamed "Too broken!" Tears spilled down her cheeks "He did things to me. He made me do things. I didn't have a choice! I lost so much because of him" She squeaked. "Didn't you think I deserved to know that he was still alive!"

He bit his lip in silence his eyes focused on his hands in his lap. He looked up at the blonde "Did you ever think that I deserved to know that you killed Wolfe." Derek whispered

She looked at him in silence. "How-"

"The blood on the chess piece confirmed it, but I had my suspicions since I read the autopsy report."

She bit into her lip "I didn't have a choice." Tears fell from her eyes sending another twinge of pain through his body.

"JJ I'm sorry. You don't have to explain yourself. Curtis forced you to-"

"He told me to kill him or he would kill you. He told me that I was just like him, and I am. I'm just like him." More tears fell form her eyes

"No." Derek whispered scooping her into his arms. "You're nothing like him." He pressed his lips into the top of her head while holding her against his chest. "Curtis forced you to kill Wolfe. He's a coward. You're stronger than him."

"No I'm not." She choked "He won. He made me go against everything I believe in. He made me kill an unarmed man. I'm a murderer." Her body racked as she burrowed into Morgan's shirt "I still feel his blood on my hands, and I see him. I see his eyes begging me to not kill him but I do. I watch as his eyes fade to nothing. I killed him."

Morgan rocked her slowly trying to calm her down. "Shhhh…You were protecting me." He kissed her head, "All this time I thought I was protecting you in there, but you were protecting me. You saved me."

* * *

 **Okay so I hope you enjoyed Ch. 2, I** **love reading your reviews and responses, so please review. If you have any suggestions feel free to put them in your reviews, and I will try to accommodate them the best I can, if I did something that sucked or that needs more clarification please tell me and I will try to fix it.**

 **As always, review, favorite, follow, comment, suggest, message me, or do whatever floats your boat :)**

 **I'll update as soon as I possibly can.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well I did say I would try to update soon. And well this chapter was super easy for me to write and I couldn't stop. So here you go, thanks for the reviews, (even though they haven't changed very much since I just updated like 6 hours ago) However, thanks to Kensi1997, elphiemolizbethbau, and Tomberly90 for reviewing since my last update. :) I hope you all enjoy chapter three.**

* * *

Agent Anderson flicked on his sirens as he zoomed down city streets towards Henry and Jack's school. He knew not to question Unit Chief Hotchner about any order, especially in situations involving the BAU directly, but even this seemed weird. Pulling two children from school because of an unexplainable cause, then assign a two agent detail for both of them, and then finally bring them up to the hospital that had already been overloaded with police and FBI for extra protection. But he still didn't question Agent Hotchner's order. He rapped his fingers on the steering wheel growing impatient as his car reached 80 miles per hour, he looked at the clock on the dash and knew he was still 5 minutes away, when something was this urgent, and this weird, he knew he needed to have the boys up at the hospital yesterday.

"Finally" He sighed to himself pulling up to the front of the elementary school. He left his car running as he slid out of his car and rushed up the front steps.

"I'm Agent Grant Anderson with the FBI. I need to pull Henry Lamontague and Jack Hotchner from their classes." He said with authority showing the receptionist his badge.

"I'm sorry honey, but those two boys already left with another FBI agent, about an hour ago."

Anderson grew pale at the words "There must be some mistake."

"Nope, no mistake, an Agent oh wait was his name, Sue?"

The first receptionist looked back to the other who was hard at work at her computer. "Uh, Agent John Curtis." Anderson stopped breathing for a second as the name was spoken aloud.

"Are you okay honey? You look like you've seen a ghost." The first receptionist said placing her hand on top of Anderson's. He gulped down the lump that was forming in his throat. "I need to see your video footage right away." Anderson pulled out his cell phone while the receptionist typed away on her keyboard.

"This is Agent Grant Anderson with the FBI. I need to issue an amber alert for two missing children. Henry Lamontague and Jack Hotchner."

* * *

Garcia was busy away typing into her keyboard trying to fix the damaged footage from the hospital when a high-pitched beeping caught her attention on her far left computer. She looked over and saw her god-son's face under the bold words AMBER ALERT. Another beeping sounded as Jack Hotchner's face appeared under the same words.

"Oh my God!" She squealed reaching for her phone.

"Garcia? Did you find something?" Reid's voice questioned through the phone

"Reid!" She screamed into the phone, tears already pouring down her face as the vibrant faces of the young children were on the missing child pop-up on her computer.

"Wait." His voice became muffled "Guys, it's Garcia."

"Garcia you're on speaker."

"What do you have for us, Garcia?" Rossi's voice asked

"Henry and Jack! They're missing! An Amber Alert was just issued for both of them."

Garcia heard somebody gasp and Derek's hushed voice. "JJ it's going to be alright."

"He said he would take them." He voice cracked as she tried to hold back the tears. "He said the only way to destroy us was to take the ones we would protect. He took them." Her voice became muffled again

"Garcia, who issued the alert?" Hotch's stern voice asked

"Uh…" She typed ferociously on the keys. "Anderson."

"I told him to go pick up Henry and Jack from school." He stated more quietly to the group in the room with him. "How long ago were they last seen?" He asked

"According to Anderson's information, they were last seen one hour at Jackson Elementary School before he reported them missing."

"Rossi and Reid go to Jackson Elementary School, figure out what happened."

Muffled shuffles crackled over the line and dull clang told Garcia the two agents had left the room.

"Garcia?"

"Yes sir," She answered quickly

"Get traffic cameras from the school and the surrounding area from one hour ago and figure out where Curtis went with Henry and Jack." Hotch's voice shook a little as he said his son's name.

"Yes sir. I call back the instant I have anything."

She clicked a button cutting the line. She wiped her hands against her face to get rid of the tear tracks and began hurriedly typing into her keyboard.

* * *

JJ burrowed her face into Derek's shirt, trying to regain herself, but the news of her son's disappearance kept her from fully holding herself together.

"JJ you need to tell us everything that happened to you last night." Morgan stated pulling her out from his chest and wiping the tears from her eyes. "This is what he wants. He wants you to breakdown, to see only the big picture instead of the small details, the clues, that he told you last night. To save Henry and Jack."

She nodded taking a deep breath to compose herself; she closed her eyes thinking back to last night. "It was dark, I had woke up from the door opening and saw a nurse walk in. It was weird to have a nurse come in so late, but I didn't question it. Not until…" A lumped form in her throat as his cold blue eyes stopped her memory.

"JJ he's not here. You need to overcome the fear of him hurting you. 'Cus right now he has Henry and Jack." Morgan grabbed her hand and squeezed it to show that he was with her. "You're not alone. I'm right here." He whispered, she released a low shaky breath and continued, "I noticed his eyes, that's what told me who he was, but he had already injected the drug into my bloodstream. It felt like an out-of-body experience. Only able to move my eyes, feel everything yet unable to move." She grabbed her arms with her hands curling into a tight ball. "He laughed, he knew that I didn't know he was dead."

"He has access to our reports." Hotchner whispered into Morgan's ear

"He started touching my hair. He smelled it saying it smelt like strawberries and fear." Her hands balled into fists and her brow furrowed at the thought of him touching her head. "He said how three months had been to long away from me, and that he spent time watching Henry. He talked about watching Henry play soccer. He started tracing the scars on my arms from his knife." Her fingers imitated the movements from her memories, lightly tracing her skin. "He talked about how Jack is like a big brother to Henry, how they're inseparable. He's seen them watching superhero movies together. The Avengers mostly because of myself and Hotch." He faced cringed as the memory focus on the pain from stiches coming undone. "He whispered into my ear, that he would destroy us by taking the ones we would always protect, like our parental protection being stripped away. He said he would take good care of them. Then he kissed me and left." She felt her stomach twist as the memory end with the feeling of his lips against hers. She opened her eyes, her hands trembling from the memory.

Derek looked at her with consoling eyes. "You did it. You didn't let him stop you." He whispered before turning to Hotch with a look of anger. "He said he would take good care of them. Meaning he isn't going to hurt them right?"

"It's possible. Curtis never replicated a child case; it could because he can't kill children, or because he hasn't needed to." Hotch closed his eyes at his own words hoping for the initial reason.

"He obviously has an obsession with destroying us, mainly focusing on JJ." Morgan spoke up changing the subject from Henry and Jack

"I think it's because she reminds him of a younger Erin Strauss." Hotch stated "Think back to our first profile of him. He had a vendetta against Strauss because he blamed her for his demise. JJ is considered to be the face of the team, she's blonde, early thirties, which is similar to Strauss was like on the Amerithrax case. Strauss caused his demise in his career, and in his mind JJ caused his demise in his revenge."

Morgan kept his eyes on the blonde who silently sat listening to the two. "How is it that this guy always seems to have more information than what we do?"

"He's found more help in his cause. Curtis is smart and charismatic he could lure any budding sociopath into helping him. He's had a year to plan for this, he already has an end game sorted out just like before."

"Except when his time table was rushed with the two of us." JJ spoke up. "There wasn't any planning, it was completely rushed and frantic. We had gotten a step ahead." A small smile flashed across her face at the words.

"And we can do it again." Derek laid his hand on the bed open for JJ to take and unravel from her tight ball.

She placed her hand inside his and squeezed. "We need to go back over the Amerithrax case and Strauss' cases immediately after."

* * *

Garcia watched as the stocky man walked out the doors of the elementary school with a child holding onto each hand. "Oh where is he taking you?" She asked the screen as she flipped through cameras until one provided her with the angle she needed.

Curtis helped the boys into the back of a dark blue town car and shut the door before opening his own and sliding into the car.

Garcia watched as the car began to leave the parking lot and she flipped frantically through the cameras again trying to find the car. "Come on give me something." She whispered desperately. She chewed on her bottom lip watching the cameras siphon through over and over again until one showed the town car driving south from the school. "Give momma a license plate." She clicked on the keys freezing the video and zooming in on the front of the car. She enhanced the video and had a clear photo of the license plate. "Yes!" She shrieked she swiveled over to another computer and typed in the 7 characters for a search.

"We're coming for you, you son of a bitch." She growled

* * *

"Come on boys." Curtis smiled waving for the two kids in the car to follow him. The two boys gave each other weary glances before Jack opened the door. The two followed behind Curtis up the steps to the aging red house in front of them.

"Where's my mom?" Henry spoke up

Curtis turned around to them and gave them a smile. "Like I said the last 20 times, they'll be here soon." Curtis patted Henry on the head but was stopped when Jack stepped between the two.

"I want to call my dad." He said giving Curtis a serious face and crossing his arms to show his adamancy. Curtis chuckled "Of course, there's a phone inside that you can use."

Curtis turned back to the door and unlocked it. He pushed it open for the boys to enter. Henry took a step, but was stopped by Jack's hand. "I don't like this guy. And my dad told me to trust my gut. And my gut is telling me that he isn't good." Jack whispered looking back at Curtis, who raised an eyebrow at the boys. "Stay behind me." Henry nodded obeying the older boy's command as the two stepped into the house.

Curtis shut the door and locked it behind him. He smiled at the boys who looked at him in concern. "Its for your safety." He smiled walking further into the house "You boys hungry?"

Henry grabbed his abdomen as the word made his tummy jump. Jack was still weary of the man. "You said I could call my dad."

Curtis rubbed his temples "Oh you are your father's son." He muttered under his breath before turning to the ten year old and smiled "Of course, son. Here you go." He said grabbing the phone of the wall and handing it to the taller boy.

Jack pushed the numbers cautiously while his eyes remained on Curtis who put a pot of water on the stove. Jack pressed the phone to his ear. The phone rang and was answered on the second ring.

"Hotchner." A voice boomed

"Dad?"

"Jack! Where are you."

"Me and Henry are with Agent Curtis."

"Can you put Agent Curtis on."

Jack nodded and extended the phone to Curtis who gave a smile and waved his hand. "I think it would be better if you talked to him." He whispered

"Dad?"

"Yeah buddy."

"Is Agent Curtis a bad guy."

"Yes Jack. Can you do something for me?"

"Yeah what?"

"Be strong, take care of Henry, and know that I'm coming. Okay?"

"Okay Dad."

"Jack can you put Henry on the phone." Jack nodded again and gave the phone to the smaller boy. "Its for you." He whispered

"Hello?" He answered

"Henry!" JJ's voice cracked

"Henry listen to me I'm coming for you, okay, listen to Jack, okay.

"Yes mommy."

Curtis perked his head up to the little boy's words. "Henry can I see the phone?" Curtis asked nicely holding his hand out.

"I gotta go mommy."

"Henry! No… hen-"

"Hello Jennifer."

"You Son of Bitch!"

"tsk tsk tsk, and you kissed your son with that mouth."  
"If you touch them I'll kill you." She seethed through the phone.

"Like you killed Jason?"

There was silence on the other end as he struck a cord with the blonde

He sighed bored by the silence. "Well considering that you and your team have already tried to kill me twice, I wouldn't say I'm scared for that threat anyways." Curtis stirred the pasta in the boiling water "But don't worry me and the boys are going to have so much fun, and whenever my friend arrives from her forced vacation, the real excitement can begin." He chuckled into the phone "Oh! Well I must end our conversation short Jennifer, it's time for lunch."

"No! Curtis I'll fi-" her voice was cut off as he hung up the phone and tossed it on the counter.

"Whose ready to eat." He smiled to the two boys who gave each other a wary glance again.

* * *

 **I kind of modeled Jack and Henry's relationship off of my cousins, one is 7 and the other is 6 and its really cute when the older one tries everything first to make sure its safe for the little one and then they do those things together. That's how I see Henry and Jack's relationship so sorry if it is different from your own, but that is called author's creativity. I hope you enjoyed the chapter overall though, I technically left you with a cliff hanger...maybe (Who is mystery woman? What will happened when she arrives? etc.). I'll try to update ASAP, who knows maybe I could have chapter four up by tomorrow or Tuesday.**

 **As always, follow, favorite, review, comment, suggest, message me, or do whatever floats you boat. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I have been bogged down with school work for the past few weeks, and then to put 5 college essays and another 3 scholarship essays on top of that, this story just had to take a backseat. I hope you enjoy this next chapter, it definitely is a filler chapter and is pretty slow, but it sets up later chapters, especially the next one. I will try to update soon, but who knows with my schedule. Again sorry I haven't updated in awhile. but here you go. :)**

* * *

JJ pushed herself into a sitting position and wiggled to he edge of the bed. Morgan placed a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked

"I need to go find my son. Derek let go of me." Her voice shook from the tears that were on the verge of flowing out again.

"JJ, you can't even take more than four steps, I won't let you do this on your own?" He looked at her with distraught. JJ stretched her legs out and managed to place her feet on the ground.

"He has them. He's set on breaking us. I need to get out of this damn hospital!" She yelled brushing his hand off of her. "I can do this Derek. I'm going."

Derek scoffed at the spark of determination from the blonde. _He gave you hell and now you're gonna give him hell back._ He smiled at the thought of the momma bear doing anything to protect her young. "JJ, I said you can't do this on your own. Now I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to help you." The blonde looked back at the man perplexed. "You're not going to tell me that I'm too injured to do this?"

"JJ we're both injured," He put his finger to his temple "He messed with us up here, there are pieces that we'll never be able to recover. But that shouldn't stop us from arresting his ass." He smiled assuring to the blonde. "Now let me help you up."

He held out his hand, which JJ took. He helped pull her off the bed and steadied her on her own feet.

They took a few more small steps away from the bed. "Curtis is the reason why I haven't been able to walk for 3 months, and now he's the reason why I'm pushing myself to get better." She whispered, letting go of Morgan's hand that was tense as she took another step on her own.

Derek watched as JJ turned around and walked back to the bed. She placed her hands on the bed to hold herself up. Her breaths were labored and a bead of sweat dripped from her brow. "You okay?" Derek asked placing his hands of her shoulders.

She waved her hand "I'm fine, just haven't done that much in awhile." She choked on a small chuckle as a tear slid down her cheek.

"JJ?" Derek pulled her into his arms as she wiped the tear from her face. "You are so strong." He whispered kissing her cheek "We'll find them."

* * *

Hotch, Reid and Rossi sat around the round table in the conference room listening to the recorded transmission of the boys' call. Hotch closed his eyes hanging on every syllable from his son.

 _"Can you put Agent Curtis on" He heard his own voice ask followed by a few seconds of silence and then Jack's voice came back_

 _"Dad?"_

 _"Yeah buddy."_

"Curtis remains withdrawn, he isn't even being picked up in the background noise, except after Henry gets the phone." Reid stated over the recording

 _"Yes mommy." Henry's voice answered on the transmission_

 _"Henry can I see the phone?" Curtis' muffled voice said in the background_

 _"I gotta go mommy."_

"It confirms Morgan and mine's preliminary profile of him." Hotch said above the noise. "He has a delusional obsession with JJ, just like his previous obsession with Strauss. He see's her as the reason for his failures and will do whatever it takes to make her feel the same way."

 _"But don't worry me and the boys are going to have so much fun, and when ever my friend arrives the real excitement begins. Oh, got to go, lunch is ready." Curtis voice continued._

 _"Curtis I'll fi-" JJ's voice was cut of and the room filled with silence._

"So the question is, who is Curtis' new partner." Rossi said breaking the long silence

"Somebody that would have a vendetta against the BAU." Reid said

"No, for this partner it's more personal than just the BAU, he took Jack and Henry, yet he hasn't shown signs of being able to kill children, so it's somebody who has shown signs of harming children in the past and had a personal vendetta against myself or JJ." Hotch retorted keeping his eyes focused on his hands

"That's going to be a long list." Rossi sighed grabbing a notepad and a pen from his Go-Bag.

"The average amount of cases we take on within a year is about 109, if we narrow that down to cases closed where either it went cold or the Unsub was arrested, we're at about 83 cases. However that's not factoring in any cases that you or JJ have consulted." Reid sighed trying to calculate the data floating in his head, but stopped and stated the obvious aloud. "Curtis leaves clues, but this is too vague."

"Let's get Garcia to pull all files on past Unsubs that match the criteria and we'll go from there." Hotch said pulling out his phone "I'm going to the hospital to check on Morgan and JJ."

"We'll start making a list." Reid said as Hotch walked out of the room

* * *

Jack struggled against the window trying to open it, and finally stopped letting out a giant sigh. "It won't move."

"I guess Agent Curtis locked the windows." Henry said watching his legs dangle off the bed.

"Yeah thanks Henry" Jack said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

"Jack a-are we going to die?" Henry's voice cracked as tears started falling down his face.

Jack instantly came to Henry and put his hand of Henry's shoulder. "No. Your Mom and my Dad are gonna find us. I bet they're already on the way. It'll be okay."

Henry's sniffles continued and Jack slid of the bed grabbing a blanket at the end. Jack went into the corner and hooked the blanket onto a nail in the wall. He took one of his shoes off and placed it on top of the windowsill with the blanket sandwiched in-between. Then, Jack went to the far corner and slowly pulled the nightstand away from the wall.

Henry's sniffles started to die as he looked up to see Jack moving around. He wiped his nose with his sleeve. "What are you doing?" he squeaked

"Building a fort." He grunted scooting the nightstand closer to the levitating blanket in the corner. "When I got scared I would build a fort with my dad." He stopped moving the nightstand and looked up to the small blonde child on the bed. "Do you want to help?" He asked receiving a nod from the smaller boy who dragged the comforter along with him. Jack continued to pull the nightstand into the corner and squished the third corner of the blanket between it and the wall. Henry helped jack draped the comforter over the blanket creating a makeshift door and third wall to the fort.

The two crawled inside their fort and smiled at their work. "See. Already makes you feel better, right?" Jack laughed nudging Henry who giggled back. "I feel like I'm in a castle."

"Boys!" Curtis yelled from another room in the house. "Boys can you come here please."

Henry looked to the older boy for guidance; jack took in a deep breath. "Henry this is our safe place. If anything happens you come here, understand?"

Henry nodded in response.

"Now stay behind me." He whispered crawling out of the fort. Henry followed close behind him.

"Boys!" Curtis voice rose showing his anger. Jack and Henry walked into the main area of the house where Curtis stood at the door with a woman behind him in an orange jumpsuit. She gave them boys a devilish smile. "Hello" She smirked

Henry took in a deep breath "Bad lady." He whispered into Jack's ear.

The woman brushed past Curtis and stooped down to be eye level with Jack.

"This is the son of the agent that killed Matthew?" She asked Curtis scanning jack from head to toe.

"Yes Agent Hotchner" he replied "And of coarse there's Henry behind him."

The woman chuckled again, grabbing Henry's arm and pulling him into her embrace. "Oh how could I forget you." She squealed tightening her hold on Henry as he struggled to get away. "Do you remember me Henry, my name is Izzy." Henry struggled to break free as the embrace tightened to point where he couldn't take a breath.

"She asked you a question." Curtis growled

"Yes." He strained to say as his face began to turn bright red from the lack of oxygen.

"Let go of him!" Jack yelled kicking Izzy in the shin. She released her grip and yelped in pain. Henry fell to the ground in a fit of coughs trying to regain the air he so desperately needed.

"Why you little!" Izzy yelled, grabbing Jack by the hair. She threw him across the room; Jack hit the floor and slid until his head struck into the wall.

"Jack." Henry screamed crawling to his friend's side and helping him sit up.

Curtis and Izzy slowly walked to be in front of the boys each sporting a malicious smile from ear to ear. "Oh this is going to be too sweet." She snickered "I wonder if they're beating themselves up knowing we have their kids."

"We can go see that for ourselves." He whispered. Izzy's smile widen at the thought of seeing the woman who put her in jail for the past 3 years and the man who killed her love in agony from losing their children.

* * *

"You ready?" Morgan asked walking into JJ's hospital room with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. JJ nodded and shifted herself to the edge of the bed. "How did Hotch take it?" She grunted steading herself on her own.

"Uh, he definitely didn't like the idea of you leaving the hospital without being cleared by the doctor."

"He never seemed to listen to his doctor when he was in here."

Morgan smiled "I guess that's why he didn't fight it."

JJ took a few steps to reach Derek and then put her hand on his shoulder for support.

They walked out of the room and down towards the elevator. Hotch waited by the metal doors, his face devoid of emotions with a phone to his ear.

"Tell everyone to meet in the conference, Morgan, JJ and I will be there soon."

Hotch closed his phone and scratched the back of his head discomforted by the news he had received.

"Hotch, What's up?" Morgan asked walking up to his irritated Unit Chief

"Izzy Rogers escaped from prison sometime last night."

JJ gasped in shock "And we're just finding out about this now?"

"Apparently all outside communications were halted during the lockdown. And the computerized alert that a prisoner had escaped was hacked by an unknown source before it was sent to outside authorities."

* * *

The three made their way to the black SUV sitting in the parking garage.

JJ stopped, the memory of her abduction bubbling to the surface. Morgan looked back to see the blonde frozen. "JJ, you can't let him get to you."

"I-I remembered the night I was taken, but I wasn't afraid." Her voice shook as she looked into Derek's eyes "I knew that you would find me."

"So why did you stop?" He said stopping a foot away from her.

"Because I wanted to feel that fearlessness again, maybe even try to get it back." She whispered "But I can't."

"You can't." He said watching the blonde's face contort into confusion "That fear will never leave you. You just can't let it beat you." He paused enveloping her into a hug resting his chin on her head "That fear makes you stronger, it motivates you to conquer it." He kissed the top of her head and tightened the embrace. "JJ you are strong, strong enough to walk on your own out of a hospital, strong enough to stand against any obstacles that come in your way, strong enough to find Henry and Jack, and strong enough to takedown Curtis." He pulled away to look her in the eyes. "You just can't let that fear be stronger than you." Morgan wiped away a tear that had started to slide down JJ's face as she nodded understanding his words.

Hotch pulled up beside the couple in the SUV, and both slid into the car, Morgan in the front passenger seat, and JJ right behind him.

"The rest of the team is waiting for us back at the conference room." Hotch said quickly pulling out of the garage and turning on his siren.

"Then lets not keep them waiting." Morgan answered

* * *

 **Yeah so there you go, I know it was pretty slow. Sorry again for not updating sooner. Thanks for reading, if anything was stupid or needed to be written better please review and tell me and I'll try to update it.**

 **As always, comment, favorite, follow, review, suggest, message me or do whatever floats your boat.**

 **I will try to update as soon as I possibly can.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone that has reviewed thus far. _Jareau37, jjcrimminds, Kensi1997, Tomberly90, elphiemolizbethbau, Brangelina, and Liasonfan75_ you all are great, thank you so much for reviewing. I love reading everyone's reviews so please keep on reviewing! I hope I did this chapter well and gave it the justice that it deserves. Of course, I hate rereading any of my writing, though I think thats just author's remorse, but please if anything is wrong or needs improving tell me and I will try to make the story better. Now for your enjoyment... Ch. 5**

* * *

Hotch lead the way with Morgan and JJ behind him trying to keep up with his brisk pace as they made their way through the bullpen and towards the conference room. JJ stopped when she saw everyone sitting at the circular table. Reid, Rossi, Garcia, Kevin, and Will sat with their eyes focused on the similar files in each of their hands. She put her hand on Derek's shoulder making him stop in the doorway. "Will's here?" She whispered in his ear, making him turn and face her blocking her view into the room. "The Director asked for the local police's cooperation with finding Izzy Rogers and Curtis. And since he has had a previous experience with Rogers, and his connection already with the BAU, Will was the obvious choice to head the police cooperation." JJ's eyes were glued to the floor and she sighed knowing that Will was the best qualified for what was going on. Derek placed his hands on her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze. "You don't even have to speak to him, okay?" He asked lowering his head to meet her eyes. She looked into his dark brown eyes and gave a small smile. "I'll be right next to you the whole time." He kissed the top of her head and turned back towards the conference room. JJ took in a deep breath and slowly released it as she walked behind Derek, and silently sat down beside him as Garcia stood up to begin her presentation.

"Sometime last night," Garcia began clicking a button causing pictures of a woman to appear on the monitor behind her, "Izzy Rogers, AKA the Queen of diamonds escaped from Wallens Ridge State Prison, a super max prison in Big Stone Virginia."

"Have we gotten any more information from the prison officers about the breakout?" Rossi asked receiving a shake of the head from Garcia.

"No, most of the cameras and computers are still down from the escape, and Wallens is still on lock down with very little communication with the outside world."

JJ kept her head down and slowly flipped through the files in front of her, one on Izzy Rogers and their previous run in with her during the hostage situation at the bank. Another file on John Curtis from his Replicator days. And a third file about the most recent abduction of Derek and herself by Curtis. This file was the smallest and was clearly missing a lot of information about they're time alone with Curtis. JJ pushed the smallest file away and opened up the file on the woman who had escaped. She stared at the cold dead eyes of the woman holding up a plaque with numbers, the remnants of scuffle were etched on the woman's face, JJ remembered her fight with Izzy Rogers in her own home fighting to protect her son. She balled her hands into fists thinking about her son with Izzy now.

Will listened to the very colorful technical analyst relay the information he had heard and read a dozen times to the rest of the agents. His eyes kept lingering on the blonde agent who hadn't even looked up in the 8 minutes they had been sitting together. He remembered watching two paramedics cart her off into an ambulance three months before when they had found her and Morgan in the abandoned building.

"Will. Will!" Garcia shouted breaking the man's trance.

"Hmm?" He asked breaking his gaze on the blonde and training his eyes on the woman standing before the group.

"Morgan asked what the local PD was doing to find Izzy Rogers."

"Uh, He have set up road blocks across a 30 miles radius in between here and the prison, and from the little that we have gathered from Interpol we have started to look into Rogers stomping grounds trying to see if she's made any contact with her known connections." He paused looking at the blonde who didn't seem to care that he was speaking "But so far we haven't gotten anything." He watched the blonde scoff at the statement.

JJ finally looked up and brushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes. "You should be looking at Matthew Downs, and the Stratton Brothers as well. Both Curtis and Rogers are smart and they know we'll be looking into their own contacts, but they might think that we'll overlook deceased partners connections." JJ said aloud.

Hotch nodded in approval, "Garcia and Kevin go and start making a list of known contacts of the Stratton Brothers and Matthew Downs." The two nodded and shuffled out of the room. "Rossi and Morgan start following those leads as they come from Lynch and Garcia. Reid and I will head up to Wallens Ridge State Prison." JJ sat silently waiting for her assignment and watched as everyone rose to leave.

"Hotch?" She asked, "Where do you want me to go?"

He gave a nod to everybody as the hesitated to leave, and waited for the room to be empty before speaking.

"I want you to stay here. You can help Garcia and Kevin with the list of connections. Take it easy, I know you want dive headfirst and arrest these two, but doing so could injure you more, and I don't want to risk that. Okay?" He gave the blonde a reassuring smile, and she nodded in response and watched her Unit Chief leave the conference room.

JJ started to stack the files into a pile when the door to the room closed with a loud bang. The sound made JJ jump dropping the files on the ground. Will instantly went to the ground to pick them up. "I'm Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." He said picking up the files that were in complete disarray. She took the mess from him but remained silent.

"JJ I wanted to talk to you."

She didn't respond, she just focused her attention and body on the files trying to rearrange them. keeping her back to Will trying to show him her disinterest in his conversation.

"We need to talk." He raised his voice and placed his hand on top of the files halting her work. She looked up and locked eyes with him.

"Now you want to talk, for three months I've been in a hospital room where you could've came to talk, but you didn't even come up to the hospital. But now you want to talk." She said throwing her hands on her hips in anger. Will took a step back his hands up in capitulation.

"JJ, I'm sorry that I raised my voice you don't deserve that. And I'm sorry, I never came to visit you in the hospital. I would be standing right outside the entrance to the hospital, but every time I just never knew what to say." He threaded his fingers through his hair, understanding her anger. "Look, I know that I've messed up a lot this past few years-"

"Stop" She interrupted, and took in a breath "It's over."

Will just closed his eyes and nodded his head slowly. He took in a deep breath and met her eyes, "I understand." He started to turn towards the door when JJ placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Will, please let me explain why. It has nothing to do with the affair; I was willing to look past it. But our marriage has just become an empty shell. I know we've both tried to work it out for Henry, but-"

"But we've both fallen in love with other people." Will interrupted causing JJ to stare in disbelief. She slightly opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it unable to put her thoughts into words.

"I wasn't going to leave you and Henry because of my own emotions, I would never do that to you. But I've also noticed the connection between you Derek forming over the past year or so. JJ, what I was going to tell you was that after we find our son, and when you were ready, that I would file for divorce." He paused giving JJ a small smile, "I'm glad you feeling better, and you know that you will always hold a place in my heart, but I won't keep you from what you're heart really wants." He kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the conference room leaving JJ alone.

JJ bit into her bottom lip, mulling over the detective's words. He was willing to look like the bad guy in the eyes of their son. She continued to reorganize the files silently in the conference room.

"You always were quite the gentleman, Will Lamontange Jr." She whispered walking out across the cat walk towards Garcia's computer hideaway.

* * *

Curtis and Izzy sat in the dark-toned economy car across from the FBI building. Izzy sighed and placed her feet on the dash and laid back in her chair getting into a more comfortable position. They watched as a black SUV pulled up to the front of the building and two passenger-side doors opened.

"I thought you said she was so damaged that she wasn't even able to stand by herself let alone walk." Izzy scoffed watching the petite blonde agent gingerly exit the vehicle. "I mean don't get me wrong she looks like she was just hit by a train, but she seems to be getting along just fine."

Curtis tightened his grip on the steering wheel but remained silent as Izzy continued to jeer. His eyes followed the blonde as she watched the car roll away and then turn to the black man standing next to her. Curtis watched the man pull her into his chest and kiss the top of her head, which made him tighten his grip further on the wheel turning his knuckles white.

"Oh, I don't think I had the pleasure of meeting that tall drink of water." Izzy giggled biting her bottom lip, "She always seems to get the best looking men to sleep with her."

"Shut up." He hissed

Izzy dropped her feet back to the floor and raised an eyebrow at Curtis while a smile formed on her face. "You're jealous." She laughed "Oh that's too precious." She cooed grabbing Curtis' cheek, he snatched her wrist and held it between the two of them. "Don't patronize me! Now shut up."

Izzy yanked her wrist away and trained her eyes on the two agents as the walked up the steps and into the building. "Nothing can stop that woman." She muttered softly

"Except Her son." Curtis growled with a smile

They waited another hour hoping the blonde would come out of the building. He watched Agent Rossi and Agent Morgan glide down the front steps and towards the parking garage. A minute later Agent Hotchner and Dr. Reid exited the building heading in the same direction as the previous two agents.

"Well they all got out of there quickly." Izzy stated after an hour of dead silence in the car.

"I don't think she's coming out anytime soon." He sighed, as he turned the car's engine over. "Buckle up, we're going back to the house. I know how to flush her out."

* * *

Jack pulled on the front door trying to open it up and free them from this prison. He grunted from physical exertion and let go off it sighing in frustration. Henry sat by the window watching the birds fly from the tree to the telephone wires and back to the tree, while glancing to his friend's feeble attempts to escape. Henry's eyes widen as a navy blue car turned onto the street.

"They're coming." He squeaked rushing away from the window and taking a seat on the couch. Jack jogged over to Henry and sat down beside him, "whatever happens I'll protect you." He whispered

Curtis and Izzy opened the door and walked into the kitchen without saying a word. The two boys turned their heads watching the two adults silently move around placing a box of crayons and a few pieces of paper on the table. Izzy looked up and gave the two a large smile. "Oh boys," She sneered, "Come here please."

The two didn't hesitate, knowing the punishment for disobedience, and quickly shuffled over to the table and took a seat.

"You're going to write your mommy and daddy a letter." She smiled leaning against the table putting her face a few inches away from Jack's "And you'll have it done in an hour, yes?" Her voice lowered grabbing Jack's hair and pulling his head closer to make sure he understood. She pulled on his hair like puppet strings nodding his head to answer her on rhetorical question. Izzy pushed his head away and walked out of the room leaving the two alone. Jack rubbed the back of his head trying to relieve the pain that was forming. Henry slowly picked up a blue crayon and looked to Jack to make sure it was okay to start.

"Let's make this count." He whispered with a smile trying to reassure the younger boy. Jack bit into his cheek trying to keep the tears from spilling out of his eyes, he wished for his dad to storm into the house and save them from this unending nightmare. He looked down at the white piece of paper with a black crayon hovering just above the page. A stray tear dripped onto the page, and Jack instantly wiped his face to clear the evidence and looked up to make sure Henry didn't see. Jack took in a deep breath.

 _It'll be okay. Dad'll will come. He always saves the day, just stay strong. He's coming._

* * *

 **Well there you have it, I hope you like it. I am starting to write chapter 6, hopefully I can have it done by next week, but who knows with the random amounts of homework each night. I should have a little more time this week since its the end of the first grading period, but who knows.**

 **As always, review, follow, favorite, comment, suggest, message me, or do whatever floats your boat.**

 **Hope to virtually see you all next week :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay so I know it has been awhile, so it light of my tardiness in this chapter, I have doubled the amount in it, and combined two possible chapters into one. So SURPRISE! Thanks to everybody who reviewed, please continue to review it really is great to see a email on my phone throughout the day from one of you posting a review. If you have any suggestions for what you might want to see in this sequel please write about it in a review or private message and I will try my best to accommodate my story to your suggestions.**

 **This first part of Chapter 6 is JJ's delusions while the real world is going on around her. It continues to to switch from what JJ sees to what Garcia/"the rest of the world" sees. once Kevin comes into the story the delusion is over and it the line breaks mean time has passed or the story is switching to another location like usual.**

 **I hope you enjoy Ch. 6**

* * *

JJ sat quietly at her desk in the bullpen. The room was quiet since her team was out trying to find her son and Jack. She looked down at her arms; covered in bandages hiding the disfigured skin from the torture she had received 3 months before. The memory staring to replay in her mind caused pain to flare throughout her entire body, especially in her chest. She grabbed at it instantly leaning over from the immense pain. JJ ran into the bathroom, and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She gasped at the dark crimson stain forming on her white blouse. JJ frantically grabbed paper towels trying to soak up the blood. She looked up again and shrieked at the figure appearing behind her.

"It hurts doesn't it?' He asked choking on blood spilling out of his mouth

"Jason." She gasped feeling the blood filling into her own chest making it harder to breathe. She closed her eyes trying to make his apparition disappear. Jason placed his hand on her chest causing her to groan in pain as if a knife was being lodged into her ribcage. "Please…Stop." She struggled

"This is what you did to me!" He screamed "You took a knife and stabbed it into my chest!" His breath felt hot against her face, she didn't dare open her eyes, she just prayed he would leave. "How did it feel to have my blood all over your hands?" He whispered in her ear, she didn't respond. "Did you like it?"

"Go away." She said clenching her hands into fists, avoiding his questions

"Did you like it?' He raised his voice as his eyes scanned her face. His hands left her chest and started tracing the scars peeking through her bandages on her arms causing pain to flare up, which made JJ wince in pain. "Get away from me." She seethed

"Did you like killing me!" His voice rose again from the silence of the blonde. She still remained silent causing him to yank her around and pinning her against the wall. "DID YOU LIKE IT?!" He screamed.

* * *

"JJ?" Garcia asked softly as she peaked her head into the bathroom. She bit into her bottom lip at the sight before her. The petite blonde leaning over the sink, her hair covering her face from view, and her hands holding onto it the counter with a viselike grip making her knuckles turn white. "JJ are you okay?" She asked slowly entering into the bathroom. The blonde didn't move.

"Go away." She growled softly, barely audible for Penelope, but she stopped when she heard the command. Garcia craned her head trying to look into JJ's eyes. She lightly placed her hand on JJ's arm. Which caused JJ to tense up, Garcia instantly let go. "JJ please tell me what's wro-"

"Get away from me." The blonde seethed, Garcia froze her mouth ajar at the words

"JJ I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."

The blonde stood still and quiet not responding to the words.

"JJ look at me." Garcia raised her voice just slightly trying to elicit a response but not frighten her. The blonde continued her statue like behavior.

"JJ look at me." Garcia shouted grabbing the blonde and gingerly pulling her to look into her face. "JJ sweetie, open your eyes." Garcia brushed the blonde's hair out of her face and look into a face contorted in pain with eyes shut tightly.

"Whatever it is, it isn't real!" She yelled cupping her hands around JJ's face as the blonde started to flail around. "Listen to my voice, just open your eyes JJ it isn't real."

* * *

JJ's head slammed against the wall but she kept her eyes shut. She grunted in pain as his hands pinned her arms to her side.

"JJ look at me."

JJ's breath caught in her chest as she recognized the voice. _Garcia._ Her chest tightened at the thought of her being taken by Jason.

"Open your eyes." Jason's voice rang in her ears "You can watch me kill her"

"No!" JJ screamed thrashing around trying to break free of his grip.

* * *

"Listen to my voice, just open your eyes JJ, it isn't real." Garcia pleaded. She opened her eyes. Garcia couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face with her hands cupping JJ's face, trying to calm her down.

* * *

Jason stood behind her a sickening smile painted across his face. JJ kept her eyes on the man circling the two women, hungrily looking over Garcia.

"I wonder how loud she can scream." He licked his lips running his fingers through her hair.

* * *

"Don't touch her." JJ growled, causing Garcia to look back over her shoulder trying to figure out who or what JJ was speaking to.

"JJ, focus on me." Garcia said wiping away the tear streaks and composing herself. "Look at me, and focus on my voice."

* * *

The blonde moved her eyes to meet Penelope's trying to focus on her. The man lifted his hand to reveal a large blade. He continued to play with Garcia's hair placing the blade on her shoulder.

"Don't!" JJ shrieked as Jason pushed the metal against her neck. "Don't hurt her."

* * *

Garcia jumped at JJ's shout, she placed her hands on JJ's shoulders and lightly squeezed. "JJ nobody is going to hurt me. There isn't anybody here. It isn't real."

She pulled the blonde into her trying to break her trance. "Please listen to me it isn't real."

* * *

JJ watched as Jason slid the knife slowly across Garcia's neck releasing a waterfall of crimson from her neckline. Garcia began to gurgle on the blood filling her airway and fell to her knees, pushing her hands to her neck in a feeble attempt to stop the blood. JJ fell to her knees to help her friend as Jason circled the two, chuckling at his work.

"It's okay." She whispered grabbing Garcia's neck stopping the blood from spilling out.

"More lies." Jason scoffed. He knelt down and placed his head right next to JJ's

"You know you can't save her. Just like you know exactly what happened when you were alone with the two of us." He smiled at the thought "And just like you know you liked it when you killed me." He whispered. "Just admit it." He ran his fingers through her hair "You're just like me."

JJ rocked back on her heels, the blood from Garcia's neck staining her arms and clothes, the lifeless body of her friend shrouded by a pool of blood. JJ bit into her bottom lip and cried, she brought her hands up to her face smearing Penelope's blood all over. Jason kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back soon." He whispered standing up to leave. He dropped the large blade stained with red, letting it clatter to the floor as he walked out of the bathroom.

* * *

Garcia lightly rubbed JJ's back as the blonde went limp in her arms and slowly descended to the floor. Garcia followed with her and knelt beside the figure curled into a ball. JJ shot her arms out and grabbed Garcia's neck applying pressure. Garcia grabbed onto JJ's arms trying to break free of her grip.

"It's okay." JJ whispered softly

"JJ, please it isn't real. Just look at me." She gasped

The blonde moved her hands to her face and began to cry. Penelope gasped as the much needed air was able to freely flow through to her lungs. She looked over at the blonde holding her head in her hands racked with sobs. "I'm so sorry." She whispered over and over. Penelope wrapped her arms around the blonde, rocking her, trying to calm the hysterical agent.

"JJ please I'm right her. It's okay, I'm okay. Nothing is going to hurt us." She whispered.

3 minutes later the blonde's cries began to fade and she removed her arms from covering her face.

"JJ?" Garcia asked when the crying stopped. The blonde remained silent just staring at her hands shaking in front of her. Garcia grabbed them and lightly squeezed. JJ's blue eyes looked up to meet Garcia's.

JJ opened her mouth to speak but Garcia stopped her. "It's over." She whispered giving her a small smile. JJ pulled Garcia into a hug and held onto her tightly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Garcia asked

JJ didn't answer; she unlocked her arms and rose to her feet. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I will later, what did you find?"

Garcia gave JJ a look of both understanding and anger. She waited hoping the blonde would change her mind, after a few seconds of silence between the two, Garcia sighed. "Kevin and I found about 18 known contacts, but we're still digging. I was talking to Derek when I saw you rush into the bathroom. So I came to check in on you, when I found you-…" She stopped for a second placing her hand on her neck "On the ground crying. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay." JJ said nodding her head. "I'm okay." She whispered again mainly to herself.

"I left Kevin alone in my lair, who knows what damage he's done to my system since I left." She joked trying to get a smile from the blonde. Garcia started to rise from the floor, but JJ grabbed her wrist stopping her.

"Please don't leave me alone." JJ squeaked

Garcia grabbed a hold of the blonde's hands and helped her rise to her feet. "Wasn't planning on it." She smiled walking with JJ out of the bathroom. JJ looked back to the floor to see it if there was a pool of blood, she let out a sigh of relief when it was completely spotless.

* * *

Kevin was typing away at the computer as JJ and Garcia entered into the room. "So that was quite a long conversation with Derek." Kevin said "What did he recite a love poem to you?" He joked turning around to see the two standing in the room. He shut his mouth and pushed his glasses up to his face. "Didn't know we were expecting company." He chortled but still getting silence from the two.

"Kevin, can you pull up a chair for JJ. I need to go make a call." Garcia said, Kevin instantly rose from his seat and offered it to JJ. She complied and Kevin moved closer to Garcia his eyes asking his question.

"I'll tell you later, just stay with her. I'll be back soon." She whispered before looking up to JJ. "I need to make a call, I'll be back in like 5 minutes. Kevin will show you what we've found so far okay?" JJ nodded in response. Kevin gave Garcia another look, and she returned the same look before leaving the room.

* * *

"She What?" Derek yelled into the phone.

"JJ kinda choked me, but it wasn't like she was trying to kill me, I think she was trying to save me." Garcia quickly said through the phone. Derek rubbed his head with his free hand.

"What do you mean she was trying to save you, were you in danger?" He asked

"No, well maybe, she was hallucinating something. I couldn't tell you what she was hallucinating, except that it was horrible. So horrible." Garcia said, Derek could tell she was holding back tears.

Rossi walked up to Derek "So Carl Paulson is a dead end. The guy didn't even know that the Stratton Brothers were dead. What's up."

"Hold on Rossi." Derek said. "Garcia do I need to come back?" He asked

Rossi gave Derek a quizzical look but remained silent.

"No, you need to keep following up on the leads Kevin is sending you. If anything else happens, you know you'll be the first one I call. She needs to talk to somebody."

"She talks to me Penelope."

"Derek you know what I mean, she needs to talk to a therapist, somebody who has a Ph.D. and has helped people through situations like this."

"A therapist has dealt with patients who were kidnapped by a person who they thought was dead, tortured for almost 2 months, watched as one of their friends was tortured as well, and oh yeah now that same guy who they thought was dead for a second time now took their kid."

Garcia remained silent. So Derek continued

"I'm the only one who has any fraction of an idea of what happened to her. If she only wants to talk to me, then we need to accept that. Going to a therapist is a decision that she needs to make for herself I'm not going to make her go if she doesn't want to."

"You're right." Garcia says after a long pause of silence between the two.

"Baby Girl, I know you're just trying to help. But the best kind of help for her right now, is catching this guy and getting Henry and Jack back, we can discuss how to handle her PTSD later."

"Yeah. I'll call you if anything else happens."

"Okay."

Garcia end the call and Derek waited until the two dull beeps rang in his ear confirming she had ended the call. Rossi raised an eyebrow to Morgan asking what he had walked into.

"JJ had a PTSD episode again, and it freaked Garcia out."

"Ah." Rossi nodded "Well we got a 4 more names to get through." He said pulling out his phone. "Gregory Marshall. Has a record for drug dealing, assault with a deadly weapon, multiple accounts for possession of illegal firearms. Guy's a real peach."

Morgan nodded in response walking toward the SUV parked on the street. "So whom is he connected to? The brothers or Downs?"

"Downs. Kevin said he was one of Down's old marine buddies who was court martialed and dishonorably discharged and started a nice drug and weapons dealing business."

Derek turned the car over glancing over to the address on Rossi's phone and plugged it into the GPS. Morgan pressed down on the gas driving off to the next possible lead into finding the two boys.

* * *

Izzy sat in her car outside the FBI building, teasing her hair to disguise her identity. She puckered her lips and pressed the lipstick to her lips and smeared it around before giving herself a kiss in the mirror. Izzy picked up her cell phone and dialed a number.

Curtis picked it up on the first ring. "Izzy." He answered

"So where are the fearless agents." She mocked her eyes staring at the front of the building

"Dr. Reid and Agent Hotchner are heading upstate to Wallens Ridge, while Agents Rossi and Morgan seem to grasping at straws. They just finished talking to one Carl Paulson."

"Why are they looking into dumb and dumber's friends?"

"They're just desperate to find a clue. To save the children." He chuckled through the phone

She laughed at his comment as well. "The only clues they're going to get are the ones we give them."

"Have you delivered our little present to Jennifer yet?"

She rolled her eyes, disgusted by his obsession with the bitch. His obsession would be his downfall. She smiled at the thought "I'm right outside, I just didn't want any surprises."

"You should be good." He answered

"I'll call you when I'm back at the house then." She said ending the call while getting out of the car. She grabbed the envelope rifling through it to find Curtis' letter, she pulled it out and crumpled it and threw it into the car. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a CD, it brought a devilish smile to her face. Izzy slipped the CD and the cell phone into the envelope and sealed the brown package.

"Curtis isn't going to see this one coming in his master plan." She chuckled to herself tucking the envelope under her arm and walking towards the building.

Izzy waited in the lobby area looking up into the camera to flaunt her presence to the BAU. She pressed her hand into the side table making sure her prints were there to confirm her appearance in the FBI building.

She walked up to the counter, and handed the agent at the desk the envelope.

"Excuse me sir, but I don't remember how to correctly check this in, its for one of my friends his name is Aaron Hotchner. Could you help me?" She asked twirling her hair. The male agent started to give her directions to the security, when she grabbed his hand. "Look…" She looked over to see his badge on his hip. "Agent York. Please can you help a girl out and bend the rules just a little." She stopped and looked into his eyes. "You know you have really pretty eyes."

"Um… Th-thank you. I guess I could make an exception to the rules. I'll have this checked and delivered immediately." He smiled

She turned to walkout and he rose and opened the door for her.

"Wow, the must teach agents how to be gentlemen too." She giggled placing her hand on his chest while walking away, his eyes stayed on her until she disappeared into a car. The agent walked back to his desk and looked into the envelope. He pulled out a piece of paper written in crayon. He started scanning the page. His eyes widened as he realized what he was reading. He slammed his hand on a red button sending a shrill alarm to echo in the room. He rushed outside and frantically tried to remember the vehicle the woman entered and which way she left in.

"Shit."

* * *

"Thanks Garcia. There isn't anything left here, so Reid and I were just about to leave. So we'll meet the team in a few hours." He removed his phone from his ear as a shrill tone blared through the phone. "Garcia? Garcia what's going on?"

"I have no idea sir!" She yelled over the tone.

Hotch kept the phone just slightly away from his ear and looked over to Reid who was finishing a conversation with the Warden.

"Reid we need to leave now." He commanded waving his phone something is happening at the BAU. We need to get back."

Reid nodded in response and waved a goodbye to the Warden before walking to his Unit Chief's side.

"Do we know what's going on?" He asked as the two agents briskly walked out of the building.

"Garcia is trying to figure that out now." The two slid into the car and Hotch handed Reid the phone as he turned the car over.

* * *

JJ sat quietly behind the two technical analysts as they quickly cycled through hundreds of emails, text messages, calls, and any information on the three dead men whose faces were plastered on the computer screen to the far left. Her eyelids started to grow heavy as the two continued their long process. Her eyes shot open when the landline began to ring breaking the silence in the room.

"That's Hotch." Garcia said pressing a button to silence the noise. "Welcome crime fighter to the lair of the all-seeing being. How may I assist you?" She asked eliciting a smile from Kevin

"Izzy Rogers had a two cellmates that she was close too according to the Warden, Alisha Gibbons, and Kelly Coleman."

"Okay I'll be sure to dig up as much dirt as possible on those two, I'm also going to get dirt on all prisoners with a cell close to Izzy Rogers just in case."

"Thanks Garcia. There isn't anything left here, so Reid and I were just about to leave. So we'll meet the team in a few hours."

Everybody in the room jumped as a loud shrill tone filled the room.

"Garcia? Garcia what's going on?" He asked his voice barely audible over the noise.

Penelope looked around the room and her eyes stopped on JJ for a moment who held onto the chair white-knuckled.

"I have no idea sir!" She yelled rising from her chair.

"Reid we need to leave now."

Garcia knelt beside JJ, and placed her hands onto top of the blonde's. JJ shifted her eyes to meet Garcia's.

"It's okay." She gave a reassuring smile and felt the blonde's hands loosen their grip on the armrests.

"Well it isn't the fire alarm." Kevin said clicking on the Quantico security files.

"JJ and I will go and check it out." She said giving the blonde a nodded and rose to her feet. "We'll be back soon."

"Okay" He answered

* * *

As Garcia and JJ neared the bullpen the shrill tone ceased, but there was still a phantom ring swirling around in their minds.

"Thank heavens they turned that dang alarm off." Garcia said

The two were stopped by a set of male agents as the turned to go down the elevator.

"Agent Jareau?" The taller one with dirty blonde hair asked.

"Yes?" She answered

"There's been a situation." The stockier short one said. "A unknown female Unsub came in about 10 minutes ago and left a package addressed to Agent Hotchner." He continued

"It contained a letter and CD addressed to you specifically, along with a cell phone and letter addressed to Agent Hotchner." The taller agent piggy backed

The two paused and gave each other a look, silently arguing with each other on who would say the last bit of information.

The dirty blonde agent let out a deep sigh.

"It was a letter from your son."

* * *

 **Okay so I hope you liked it, I could promise again to try and update within a week, but with school, band, and everyday life getting in the way, I really have no idea when I can write, so I promise I will try and update as soon as I possibly can.**

 **As always, review, comment, favorite, suggest, follow, message me, or do whatever floats your boat. :)**

 **See you next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry I haven't posted in almost a month, I could give some excuse on why, but I won't since most of you wouldn't care anyways about some random stranger's personal life anyways.**

 **Thanks to everybody who has reviewed thus far.**

 **Next chapter I'll do another shoutout to the people who reviewed, since you all are a driving force that keeps me going while writing this story.**

 **Enjoy Ch. 7**

* * *

"Who brought in the letter?" Hotch asked briskly walking into the conference room, with Reid right on his heels. Reid took a seat near JJ who sat in silence looking down at the envelope in the middle of the round table. Derek swayed back in forth behind JJ clearly agitated by the events that unfolded in the past 2 hours. Garcia rose from her chair and waited for the two members to get situated before responding.

"Prints are being ran through the database now, but-"

"It's Izzy Rogers." JJ interrupted not even looking up at the frozen frame of the woman in the surveillance video. Derek put his hands on the back of the chair, trying to comfort the distressed blonde. JJ looked up meeting the eyes of her team who remained silent, either from not having any more information on the subject matter or unable to formulate words to say given the situation, JJ believed the latter.

The Blonde took in a deep breathe before rising from her chair.

"JJ?" Derek whispered instantly met with a hand from JJ telling him she was okay.

"Three years ago, on May 16th, Izzy Rogers, Matthew Downs and the Stratton brothers decided to rob a bank. We all know this, we also all know that Rogers and Matthews took Will as a hostage and went to our house. When I arrived at my house Izzy Rogers was going to kill my son." She stopped taking in a deep breath at the last sentence. "I was able to stop her, and Rossi and I arrested her, she was locked up in Wallens Ridge State Prison. That woman is Izzy Rogers." She said pointing to the woman on the screen before continuing. "Garcia can you zoom in and enhance the image focusing around her left cheek."

"Of coarse," The analyst said clicking a few buttons on her laptop and focusing the image to JJ's parameters.

"She has a scar on her face just above the left cheekbone cause by me hitting her with a vase three years ago."

Everybody strained their eyes to view the faint scar on the Unsub's face, but didn't object.

"Izzy Rogers has always been focused on getting revenge and causing as much pain as possible. Coming into the BAU this morning, waiting around for 30 minutes, staring into the camera, putting her fingerprints all over that table the walls and that chair, handing a envelope containing letters from Henry and Jack, and then walking out without any knowing who she was. It's the ultimate way to get under our skin and try to inflict pain on myself and Hotch."

"Okay but why risk being caught?" Morgan asked tightening his grip on the swivel chair as JJ sat down grabbing her side from the over use.

"Like we profiled her, she's addicted to the rush of dangerous situations and she's focused on causing pain. What better way than to walk in to the FBI while there are over a dozen broadcasts a day and multiple search parties looking for you, and hand in an envelope addressed to the Hotch." Rossi explained

"So the question is, what is so important that it needed to be hand delivered?" Garcia asked glancing around the room before resting her eyes on the envelope.

"Do we know what's inside it?" Reid asked his fingers twisting and clicking a pen, a sign of his anxiety about the case's new evidence.

"A CD, cellphone, and two letters one addressed to JJ and one addressed to Hotch from Henry and Jack respectively." Garcia informed watching as Hotch tilted the tan envelope letting the contents spill out onto the table.

"What was on the CD?" Hotch asked

"Nobody has seen it yet sir, we were waiting on Reid and yourself to return, before we watched it." Hotch nodded in response giving Garcia the go ahead to play the CD.

* * *

Izzy took a seat in front of the camera, a smile from ear to ear plastered on her face as her eyes focused on the center of the lens. She gave the camera a small kiss and a wink taunting the future viewers before speaking.

"Hello Agents." She purred, her demeanor was calm and sadistic, she was loving every moment in making this video, a picture flashed in her mind of the agents all in different forms of discomfort from what she was about to say.

"I hope you enjoy my present. John Curtis is such a bore; he clearly doesn't know how to have fun so I thought that you would have more enjoyment catching him. If you trace back that number on the cell phone I gave you it should tell you exactly where he is." She shifted her eyes away from the camera for a second peering at the boys sitting motionless on the couch in the other room; she centered them again with smile before continuing. "Curtis just isn't as much fun as Henry or Jack, there's no…" She looked to the ceiling as if unable to formulate the word "fear."

She waited a moment for dramatic effect before continuing.

"Oh don't worry about your boys, they're perfectly safe with me." She chuckled softly at her own words "Jack has a lot of fight him, but I can break that quickly. And Henry," she bit her bottom lip "He's just like I remember." Her eyes shifted away again, anger flickering across her face. Jack had turned to face her keeping his eyes trained on her as she spoke into the camera. Henry kept his eyes focused on Jack

"In the phone is also the address to the house that the boys have been staying at. We'll speak again." She smiled leaning forward clicking the camera's record button, ending the transmission.

* * *

Garcia was already lunging for the phone when the CD cut to black; Morgan was already racing out the door with Reid and Rossi following behind without an order from their Unit Chief. Rossi stopped in the doorway and looked back at the two remaining agents and the technical analyst.

"Garcia as soon as You get a location on Curtis' phone-" Rossi began

"I know, I'll send you the information." Garcia interrupted, "already trying to triangulate the last ping from the cell as we speak."

JJ and Hotch were like stone. JJ was the first to move taking in a sharp breath causing her to reach for her side from the sudden movement.

"Hotch?" Rossi asked a little scared when his Unit chief remained so stagnant. "Aaron?" He said again placing his hand gently on the dark-haired man's shoulder.

"I'm fine, follow Morgan make sure he doesn't do anything reckless. JJ…" He stopped looking over to the blonde who still hadn't moved since the video had started playing. "JJ and I will…" He stopped again, he himself not really knowing what to do. "We'll do something." He ran his fingers through his hair as Rossi gave the man's shoulder a light squeeze

"We'll find Curtis, and then Rogers. We'll get your boy back. We just have to keep a clear head, and if that means taking a breather-"

"Thank you." Hotch interrupted understanding the man's wisdom.

Rossi slipped his hand away and locked on to Garcia's eyes and gave a nod and then glanced between the two agents, she instantly shook her head acknowledging the man's request. The older agent gave a smile and then sped out of the room to catch up with the other two agents.

* * *

"3 minutes out. Local PD is still 10 minutes away." Reid said situating his vest on his chest. "Do we wait for back up?'

"I'm not letting this Son of a bitch get away this time." Morgan growled already pulling his gun out of the holster.

"Derek. I think you should stay behind." Rossi voiced taking a sharp right.

"What?!" His voice rose. "Rossi this Son of a bitch tortured JJ and I for his own pleasure. Leaving us in the hospital for 3 months. And-"

"Exactly Derek! You're way to connected, your judgment is clouded by revenge."  
"My judgment isn't clouded. This isn't about revenge, it's about justice."

"But is your perception of justice just a perverted form of revenge." Rossi finished leaving Morgan silent, as the SUV turned onto the abandoned street.

The car jerked to a stop, Morgan already opened the door and sprinted towards the decrepit house. Reid jumped out as well trying to keep up with Morgan. Derek kicked down the door and began sweeping the living room. He made it into the first bedroom as Reid entered the house

"FBI." Reid yelled alerting anyone to their presence.

* * *

Derek went into the first bedroom his gun leading the charge going up and down as he searched under the bed and into the closet for Curtis. Something flashed across the mirror behind him making him instantly turn around.

John Curtis was already in a full sprint lowered and slammed into the black man gripping his stomach and smashing him into the wall. Derek felt his gun leave his hand, and heard the device clattering on the ground beside the bed.

Derek felt the air leave his body and gasped for a breath before throwing a punch towards Curtis' face in a counterattack. Curtis saw in coming and dodged the blow before throwing his own and connecting his fist to Derek's jawline.

Derek saw black spots entering his eyesight from the last punch and felt the cool trickle of liquid grace his lips. He sensed Curtis' grip loosen and knew exactly what the man was doing. Derek laced his fingers around the man's abdomen and rolled him over the bed before pinning him to the ground. Derek sat on top of Curtis with his knees digging into his chest. Morgan threw his right fist into the man's face connecting with the bridge of his nose causing blood to gush out. His left came right after smashing into the man's jaw. His fist continued in a flurry of punches, pummeling the man's face into a puddle of tan and crimson.

"Morgan!" Reid shouted yanking the black man off of the suspect. "He's down."

Reid kept one hand on Derek's chest while the other trained his pistol on the suspect lying still on the floor. Rossi jogged into the room and sighed at the sight of the room. He leaned over the unconscious form and restrained the man's wrists in a pair of handcuffs.

"Come on man, don't give me that look Rossi." Derek screamed wiping the trail of blood from his chin. "Curtis blitzed me, he tried to go after my gun, so I incapacitated him."

"Morgan, there's a difference in incapacitating and beating a man to a inch of his life." Reid helped Morgan to his feet to meet Rossi's eyes. "You have to be able to control your emotions or you'll be off the case." Rossi voice lowered stressing the seriousness of the situation. "Everything against him is shaky, circumstantial, but enough for a jury to convict, but if you throw that away because of poor judgment he could walk."

Curtis started to laugh causing blood to sputter out onto the floor. "And we wouldn't want that." He laughed rolling himself onto his back and locking eyes with Derek. "Would we Derek." His low guttural laugh echoed in the room. a small stream of blood cascaded down his chin making him look like a wounded wild animal. Morgan clenched his hands into fists, Reid took notice of the man's reaction and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm good." He whispered shrugging off the shoulder and relieving the pressure in his hands. "I'm good." He said louder mainly to Rossi who still looked at the black man in apprehension.

Derek moved closer to the restrained man who was still laughing and coughing up blood.

"Looks like the roles are reversed." Derek mocked pulling the bloodied figure to his feet. "Now let's go. Move!"

Curtis slowly trudged his feet mainly trying to elicit a response for the agent forcing him through the rundown house. Rossi and Reid followed closely behind the two.

"I can't wait to see Jennifer again." Curtis chuckled as the two neared the black SUV, "Does she still have nightmares about me."

Derek's grip tightened on the man's shoulder, making a evil smile dance across Curtis' face "I gave her burns like me, you know." He paused "she's just like me."

Derek slammed the man into the side of the car, causing Curtis to grunt in pain.

"Derek!" Rossi yelled, instantly Morgan through up a hand telling them he was still in control of his emotions.

"Listen you sick Son of a Bitch," He whispered into the man's ear "She is nothing like you, and over my dead body would you ever see her." He banged Curtis' head against the car window again for good measure. "Now shut up and get in the car."

Derek used his pair of handcuffs to restrain the man further in the car connecting the pair attached to his wrist to the low metal bar under his seat. Morgan closed the car door and turned to the two men standing near by.

"How's your face?" Reid asked

"Better than his." Derek smiled "Reid would you mind-"

"Not at all. I actually planned on sitting back there anyways."

The younger agent walked to the other side of the car out of the view of the two older agents.

"Rossi I'm-"

"Stop." Rossi interrupted "Derek, any agent that had suffered what you went through, probably wouldn't be able to do what you did today. You know that you went over the edge today, but you were able to recover and take the higher ground the rest of the way. And that's what makes you such a great agent." He put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Now let's take this Son of a bitch in, once and for all."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it, I'll try to update as soon as possible, and since thanksgiving is coming up I'll get at least a week to work on some chapters... that and I'm getting my wisdom teeth out so who knows maybe I could get two or three chapters posted for you all to have a early christmas present from your favorite squirrel fanfiction writer. ;)**

 **As always favorite, follow, review, suggest, comment, message me, or do whatever floats your boat.**

 **Please review and please follow and favorite my story.**

 **BYE Guys!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday... if you celebrate thanksgiving that is, or at least had a wonderful last week of November. I was stuck all week on this chapter, while recovering from getting my wisdom teeth removed and then suffering through 4 dry sockets over a holiday break. -_-**

 **Any who, I said I would post a chapter since I had the time to write, and while it wasn't as much writing as I planned on doing, I at least was able to make this wonderful little chapter. Hopefully you enjoy it. When I write I see the chapter play out in my head kinda like watching a Criminal Minds episode and then try to take that and morph it into a coherent batch of words for you to enjoy. Again hopefully you like it. I want to give a big thanks to those of you who have been reviewing so here's a little shoutout to all of you.**

 **Thank you to:**

 ** _foxyfeline_ \- I loved reading your last review, made me laugh, I loved writing the little fight scene, again in my mind it was an amazing little wrestling fight, but I think what I formed gave it the justice it deserved. Thank you so much for reviewing consistently.**

 ** _Kensi1997_ \- I want to thank you so much for the amazing compliments on my writing, and I want to say that your own story is amazing, I am going to be reviewing on your story shortly after I finish finalizing this chapter and posting it, to everyone reading this author's note, after reading this chapter of Endless Darkness, go visit this writers story called Kids in the BAU, and its sequel- Kids in the BAU Sequel. And thank you for your constant reviews after every chapter.**

 ** _jjcrimminds_ \- thanks for your reviews, I always enjoy reading your comments on your thoughts. Thank you again for reviewing.**

 ** _Jareau37_ \- Thank you so much for constantly reviewing after almost every chapter. I also want to thank you for adding my stories to the community group you founded, I absolutely adore that community and have read every story that has been added. I feel honored that you put stories in there. Thank you**

 ** _Jorgan_ \- Thank you for reviewing. I can tell you are a fan of the pairing based of your name, so I hope I do it well enough, because it is definitely my favorite TV pairing. **

**_Guest-_ this guest is the one from chapter 7 on Nov. 14th, thank you for reviewing, you wondering will be solved in this chapter, on whether it was a part of Curtis' plan. But it will be explained further and more of his dastardly plan will come to light in the next few chapters after Ch. 8.**

 **Whew. And now... Ch. 8**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Curtis sat with his hands folded on top of the metal table in the dull room. He stared at his reflection as he took inventory of his wounds from his squabble with Derek Morgan in the mirror on the wall opposite of him. A thought flickered in his mind, what if the small blonde agent was looking at him on the other side of the glass, oh how he wished to run his fingers through her hair once more. The fantasy of touching her made his member grow harder causing a sinister smile to slowly form on his face.

He let the thought fade and began to ponder on how the agents were able to find him. He knew the only person who could have given the agents the information was Izzy Rogers, there was no way that he had gotten sloppy enough for the technical analyst to have found him. Curtis knew what had occurred the moment he walked into their safe house and found it empty, he knew at some point Izzy was going to turn on him, but he didn't expect to happen so soon. He felt played by the woman whom he helped escape from prison only a week before.

Curtis heard the metallic click of the door signaling to him that he was about to have company. He focused his attention back on the situation at hand, and how to play it to his advantage. His eyes widened with excitement, as his plan began to unfold.

* * *

Morgan stood in the small dark room with his arms crossed, as he stared at the man sitting still in the room through the window. Morgan wasn't going to let this monster out of his sight, he promised JJ that he would catch this man, and now that he had, he wasn't going to let anything happen that would let him slip away again.

"You're not getting away this time you son of a bitch." He whispered to himself as Rossi entered the dark room and stood beside the black man.

"Reid and I will be going in." He stated

"I didn't think you were going to let me in on it anyways." Morgan answered keeping his eyes focused on the man's through the glass.

"JJ is-"

"No. She's not watching."

"Morgan you don't really have a say in the matter. All of the team should be in here if they're not actually interrogating, that way not even the most minuscule details are missed. Any little thing can be helpful in finding Izzy and the boys. So if she wants to watch the interrogation she can. Not to mention, when a woman makes up her mind it's impossible to change it."

Morgan grunted in response. Rossi placed a hand on the man's shoulder before turning towards the door to leave.

"This could help her find closure," Rossi whispered

Morgan remained silent as Rossi left the room, holding the door open for the blonde to enter.

He waited for the dull metallic click signaling the door was closed before speaking keeping his back to the woman.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked a little bit angry that she didn't stay away. JJ stayed near the door, as her eyes locked on the man through the glass. A sharp pain formed in her side, a phantom pain from their last encounter.

"JJ?" He asked again irritated from the silence, he turned around to see the blonde frozen by the door. Derek took a step in front of her to block her view of the monster plaguing her mind for the past 3 months. She closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again and gazing into the chocolate eyes observing her with concern.

"I'll be fine. I need to do this." She said

"You don't have to proven anything to anyone, none of us think any different of you. It's-"

"Derek stop!" She yelled throwing her arms up in the air and interweaving them in front of her chest. "I know I don't need to prove anything to any of you, but I need to do this for myself. For three months now I've been dealing with this never-ending nightmare in my mind, an untouchable, invincible monster that I could never getaway from, always being dragged back into the inescapable darkness that has shackled me from living my life. But now," A smile flashed on her face "Now, he's not an untouchable threat, I can face him and… and-"

"Be free." He finished for her understanding her plight

"I can finally be free." A tear slipped down her cheek, as the thought of being in control of the fear was finally able to be seen as a tangible goal instead of the illusion she told herself to help her get through the day.

Derek pulled her into his chest squeezing her tightly in his arms. He pressed his lips into the top of her head. "You always seem to amaze me, Jennifer Jareau." He whispered. She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, and gave the man a small smile

"Thank you for understanding."

He couldn't help but start laughing at the blonde's words. He lightly pressed his lips against hers for a moment before taking a step back. "JJ, thank you for finally opening up to me. It's been 3 months and all I've gotten from you is little bits of your nightmares or daydreams. Finally, you have actually opened up to me and that's all I could've asked for. You know I was going to the hospital's little church every day, praying to God that you would open up to me so that I could start helping you find the closure you needed." He started to a laugh again at the last part, a little embarrassed.

She smiled and chuckled a little bit at the man's words. "I'm sorry I didn't spill my guts to you sooner. You know… besides all the times I actually spilt my guts on you."

Derek busted out another laugh that echoed in the small room. He pulled her close again and placed his lips on hers. She pressed back, taking in a deep breath, and filled her nostrils with the crisp scent of his cologne. They both broke away from each other as a dull metallic sound resonated in the room. They both looked to the door behind them at first and then realized it was from the other room through the glass as Rossi and Reid entered the already occupied room.

* * *

Reid slid a chair out from under the metal table and sat down across from the beaten and restrained figure. Rossi glanced at the mirror before leaning his back against it and focusing his attention on the man in front of him.

"I have to say it feels good to see you in handcuffs John." Rossi chuckled stuffing his hands into his pockets. Reid remained silent as he placed a file onto the table and opened its contents. The beaten figure kept his eyes on his reflection in the glass mirror, not even glancing at the two men opposite him.

"Why don't you tell us about September 12th, 2014." Rossi said trying to get a response from the silent man. He laid out the perfect bait, remembering the day the team had returned from a tough case that eventually went unsolved, and then the morning after when one of his friends was missing. His stomach twisted into a knot as the memory of finding her in the warehouse flooded his mind, emaciated and unrecognizable from all of the wounds inflicted on her by the ghost now sitting before him.

Curtis remained still and unresponsive. After awhile it was Reid who spoke up.

"Why are you fixated on her?" Reid asked "Does she remind you of Strauss, I mean she and Blake were your focus when you attacked us last time?"

Curtis couldn't help but laugh at the younger agent's stupid questions. He quickly composed himself again and returned his focus on his reflection.

After 2 hours of silence with a man who for the past week had done nothing but taunt and talk to the BAU, Rossi patience was wearing thin. He slammed his hands on to the metal table causing a loud clang to reverberate throughout the room, making Reid jump from the sudden outburst. Curtis didn't jump, but slowly turned towards the man with a smile plastered on his face, but remained silent to the man's loud outburst.

"Speak Goddammit!" Rossi yelled, as he inched his face closer to the smiling man "It's over, you're done. The next stop for you is a super max prison that you'll rot in for the rest of your life. Now tell us where Izzy and the boys are!"

Curtis slowly turned his head back to the glass slowly moving his eyes side to side as if trying to find something in the reflection. His eyes settled on the right side of the mirror, and he took in a deep breath. His smile faded as he continued to stare into the right side of the room's reflection. Rossi slid his hands back from the middle of the table and stood straight as a rod waiting for a response.

* * *

Morgan and JJ stood side by side as they watched Rossi and Reid enter the room. Reid casually slid a chair out and sat down, fixing his sweater vest as he got situated. Rossi slowly closed the door, and made his way to the back wall, he glanced at the mirror as if asking one last time to the two agents behind the glass if they were ready, then he turned his back to the mirror and leaned against it.

"He didn't even look in their direction. His eyes just stayed where they are now." Morgan said aloud, starting to delve deeper into all of Curtis' motions or lack there of, trying to find his tells and get any information from his body language.

"I have to say it feels good to see you in handcuffs john." Rossi poked while putting his hands in his pockets, trying to show his dominance over Curtis.

Morgan scoffed at the comment, "you could say that again." He whispered

Reid remained silent as he placed the file labeled John Curtis open on the metal table. Reid casually strewed the photos taken of Morgan and JJ from the hospital on top, trying to bait Curtis into talking about them or even looking at the file.

The three men sat in silence for 10 minutes before Rossi spoke up again, breaking the stillness in the room.

"Why don't you tell us about September 12th, 2014."

JJ took in a shallow ragged breath knowing exactly what Rossi was asking. She closed her eyes as the memory of her walking to her car late at night and being blitzed from behind flashed in her mind. She balled her hands into fists digging her nails into her palms, the memory continued to play out in her mind waking up tied to a chair a small line of blood trickling down her head, her first encounter with Curtis and the feeling of shock at seeing him alive. She dug her nails in deeper to her palms causing pain to shoot through arms.

 _It's over._ She repeated over and over again in her mind while digging deeper. Finally the memory faded and she focused her attention back on interrogation room. She slowly released the tension in her hands, and rested them on the table in front of her. Letting the cool sensation of the metal relax the tension in her hands.

"I really thought that was going to get him to talk." Morgan scoffed glancing over at the stoic blonde who seemed to be a little on edge.

"Silence is the only weapon he has left. He's cornered, the only thing he has in his favor is information, and he knows it. Silence is his weapon against us." JJ answered pointedly.

Morgan folded his arms in response and gave a small grunt in frustration.

Reid thumbed over JJ's picture before speaking up after waiting a while in silence for the man to answer.

"Why are you fixated on her?" He paused flipping to the back of the file where all of the Replicator information was; he stopped on the photo of Strauss' body on a metal slab in the morgue. "Why are you so focused on her, does she remind you of Strauss, I mean she and Blake were your focus when you attacked us last time?"

Curtis broke his silence with a quick and boisterous chuckle, before composing himself again. Telling the boy genius that his little profile comment was completely off the mark.

Rossi's body rose and fell as he took in a deep breath, clearly becoming frustrated at Curtis's responses, to Morgan and JJ.

Morgan knew that JJ wasn't a reminder of Strauss to Curtis, the Replicator never raped Strauss, he could have, and he had the time and the location to do the deed, but never did. But with JJ, he had violated her. Derek face contorted into one of anger as the memory of being chained to the ceiling dangling in the middle of a room while Curtis raped his friend at his feet began to play in his mind.

They waited for anything, Derek looked down to his wrist and closed his eyes in agitation at the time.

"Nothing." Morgan growled. He banged his fists onto the table and took a step back from the glass before fuming silently while pacing in the back of the room. JJ jumped at Morgan's sudden outburst, she turned around watching the man silently yell and shake his fists in the air while pacing back and forth. He looked over to see her staring at him in the middle of his tantrum as if asking fro an explanation for the sudden act of rage. "It's been 2 hours of nothing but silence, the guy never stopped talking to me in the car when we drove back here, but now he's decided to plead the fifth."

JJ just stared at him silently letting him vent, which only made him angrier.

"Why aren't you saying anything? It doesn't bother you that he hasn't said a word since he got here." Derek boomed throwing his hands to the glass.

"Of course it bothers me Derek. But that's exactly what Curtis wants. By making us irritated by his silence instead of boasting about his wins against us, we are more likely to become sloppy and miss what's important. Curtis is always about making us see the big picture, but what really matters are the smallest details. We need a level head if we want to beat him, so yeah I'm angry that he hasn't said anything, but when he does I can't let my emotions be the reason I miss the most important details that could keep me from my son." She could hear her own voice rising, so she paused and took in a deep breath to calm herself.

"Take a deep breath, he will talk eventually, and when he does I'm going to need you beside me with a level head."

Derek nodded and did as the blonde said and took in a deep breath; he released it slowly and walked to the glass. He placed his hands on the table to steady himself. JJ placed her hand on top of his, to reassure him.

"He won't be quiet forever." She whispered. 5 minutes later they could see that Rossi was becoming more and more aggravated by the silence.

They watched Rossi move off of the glass quickly and slam his hands onto the table. Reid jumped at the sudden outburst. Curtis didn't flinch; he simply turned his head, with a giant wicked smile from ear to ear, to Rossi. JJ couldn't stop the chills that ran through her body looking at the smile that had plagued her dreams.

"Speak Goddammit!" Rossi yelled, his face maybe 6 inches away from Curtis'. The two agents in the other room knew Rossi was trying to assert to take control of the interrogation, but by reacting out of frustration from the unending silence, Rossi was playing right into John Curtis' hand.

"It's over, you're done. The next stop for you is a super max prison that you'll rot in for the rest of your life. Now tell us where Izzy and the boys are!"

"He was waiting for this reaction." JJ whispered to Morgan "He didn't flinch, he's calm, and even pleased that Rossi exploded." She removed her hand as Curtis turned back to the glass. JJ felt her stomach flip as she remembered Curtis' eyes as he looked over her every time he was torturing her, like a predator searching for its prey, which was same look Curtis was using as he scanned the glass. She shook her head and came back to her original spot by the glass. Curtis stared at the mirror right in the position where JJ was. She took in a sharp breath as the man's eyes continued to stare right into hers.

 _Can he see- no, it's just in your head, he's just staring at his reflection. He can't see you_

She watched Curtis take in a deep drawn out breath before he opened his mouth.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk," He began keeping his mouth open with a devilish smile; he licked his lips before continuing. "But" he slowly drew out. "Only to" his voice became low as the last word growled out of his lips, like a predator choosing his target of prey "her."

JJ quickly turned and ran towards the door. Her stomach continuing to flip over and over, making her feel like she was going to throw up. Derek turned right as the Curtis finished his demand "JJ-" He stopped as the door closed with a dull metallic click.

"Shit." He whispered, he tapped lightly on the glass signaling for Rossi and Reid to leave the room, and then quickly hurried out after JJ.

* * *

"Alright, alright, I'll talk," Curtis began; he gave the mirror a devilish smile and licked his lips before continuing. "But, only to her." His voice lowered into a growl as he said the final word. Reid looked over to Rossi silently asking ' _He can't be serious?_ ' Rossi opened his mouth about to say something as the dull tapping noise vibrated off of the mirror. Reid quickly slid all of the photos into the file and picked it up.

Curtis rested his elbows on the metal table forming a triangle with his arms, he interlaced is fingers to give his head a platform to rest on. He watched the reflection of the two agents briskly walk out of the room. When the door closed, leaving him once again alone to himself, he let out a low guttural laugh that resonated through the room, as he knew his demand would be met.

* * *

 **Alright so I hope you enjoyed the interrogation or more like the quiet game that Curtis created for the team. Stuff is about to go down, definitely the next couple of chapters are going to be getting a little more intense and interesting. Of course a thought that would be crossing my mind at this moment would be what is Izzy doing with the boys now that she is alone with them.**

 **Well I'll finish this up. Please review and give me any feedback.**

 **As always, comment, favorite, follow, review, suggest, message me, or do whatever floats your boat.**

 **I'll start writing the next few chapters. I'll post as soon as I'm done with ch. 9**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry its been another month and a week since my last update, ch. 9 threw me through a loop, seriously I must have written this chapter at least 5 times before coming up with this, its extra long since its been awhile.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed etc. I always enjoy reading your comments and reviews, they really do help when it comes to writing new material.**

 **And now for your enjoyment and pleasure... Chapter 9**

* * *

JJ made her way back to the bullpen and sat down at her desk. She bent over putting her head between her legs, to try to stop the nausea. Her hands covered up her face as the recent events played back in her mind.

"JJ?" Garcia asked meekly she reached down a lightly placed her hand on her friend's back. JJ slowly brought herself up her hands still covering most of her face. "JJ are you okay, I just saw you fly past me."

"I'm fine." She said unevenly as she slowly slid her hands down and away from her face. "I just felt really sick for a second and needed to sit down. I'm fine really."

Garcia took a seat across from the blonde agent and took hold of her hands.

"You want to talk about it?" Garcia asked seeing right through the façade JJ was putting up. JJ gave a small smile and opened her mouth again to answer but Garcia stopped her "Jennifer Jareau, I swear to God if you say that you are fine I'm going to… to… to do something so horrible that it… it" Garcia started to stammer as her threat wasn't as well thought out as she expected. It made JJ start to laugh which caused Penelope to smile back. "Please, tell me what's going on." She pleaded lightly squeezing JJ's hands within her own.

JJ bit her lip, afraid and embarrassed of what her friend would think. She ripped her hand from Garcia's as her stomach flipped again. JJ closed her eyes trying to settle herself, Garcia looked on in concern as the blonde tried to contain herself. "Are you sick? Do you want me to get you something for the nausea?"

"No, I'm fine, it's-"

"Conference room now." Hotch commanded briskly walking past him with Rossi, Reid, and Morgan trailing behind him. Morgan stopped in front of the two women huddled together. "You okay?" he asked

"I'm fine, just a little nauseous." JJ waved him off still gripping her midsection. Morgan looked over her with concern plastered on his face. "Baby Girl, could you tell the rest of the team that we'll be in the conference room in a moment." He asked, clearly trying to get some privacy with JJ. Penelope looked up at the man. "Uh, yeah of course. JJ, I will be expecting another powwow soon so we can talk." Garcia said rising from the swivel chair.

She glanced back at the two agents, Morgan crouching in front of JJ looking up at her with concern, before she entered into the conference room.

"They'll be in in a moment, I think JJ is just a little bit rattled, and Morgan's calming her down."

"I don't blame her." Rossi scoffed taking a seat. "The ordeal that that woman has gone through. _Psh_ , I don't know how she's able to do it."

* * *

"JJ, what's going on." Morgan asked placing a hand on her knee. JJ kept her eyes low, not wanting to make eye contact with the man. A small tear cascaded down her face. She wiped it away quickly and took in a deep breath to calm herself.

"There's something I never told you." She whispered shakily, Derek inched closer to hear her words clearer.

"What is it?" He asked rubbing his thumb lightly on her knee.

JJ bit into her bottom lip, as she tightened her grip on her midsection from another wave of nausea that swept over her. Another tear fell from her face as she thought of the secret she was about to reveal.

 _"He would hate you."_ An eerily familiar voice whispered in her ear. " _You tell him and he'll never be able to look at you again, he'll never love you."_

JJ's tightened her grip again as the words stung. _I can't tell him, he would hate me._ She thought to herself, instantly the voice came back with a response.

" _All of them would see you as filth. Nothing more than a filthy little coward."_

JJ turned in the direction of the voice and saw Wolfe leaning over her shoulder. A trail of blood trickling out of his mouth _. "So many secrets in such a tiny body. It's disgusting. That's all that they would see. A liar, a coward."_ Jason leaned in closer; JJ felt his icy cold breath hit her ear, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up _. "A murderer."_ He chuckled at the words as they made her flinch. " _Go on tell him, tell him your secret, at least then you'll finally stop living a lie, he'll never love you. He'll hate you. Tell him."_ Jason's voice switched from left to right whispering in her ears _"He'll hate you. He'll see you, as you are, a murdering filthy coward. Tell him."_

"Stop." She hoarsely whispered out.

"JJ?" Morgan asked removing his hand from her leg.

"When Curtis stabbed me, it tore a hole in my stomach. After long periods of moving-" She stopped unable to formulate a good excuse for her lie. "I guess my body's telling me I need to take a break from standing."

Morgan gave her a quizzical look. "That's your secret? JJ it's okay, you aren't fully healed, you went through a lot. Nobody would be angry if you sat down in a chair from time to time." He chuckled

 _He bought it_ she thought biting into her bottom lip a little harder, causing a small taste of metal to form in her mouth. _Wolfe's right, they would be disgusted with me, he wouldn't love me if he truly knew._  
"There are chairs in the conference room, its about 15 feet away, you think you can make it?" He asked grabbing her hand off of her stomach. He craned his head to get his eyes to meet hers. "JJ?"

"Yeah, I can manage." She smiled weakly before slowly rising from her chair. Derek helped her up and then walked slowly with her to the conference room.

* * *

"You okay?" Reid asked looking at the blonde with concern as she slowly made her way into the room with Derek holding on to her hand helping her into a chair.

"She just finally realized she isn't Wonder Woman." Derek teased leaning back in his own chair. "Were good though."

"Then let's discuss the matter at hand, Curtis' demands." Rossi said glancing at each of the agents around the table "We're obviously not going to let JJ-"  
"No" JJ interrupted "He's only wants to talk to me, and has shown his ability to hold out, the only way we're going to get information is by meeting his demands." She paused as Morgan looked over at her with concern again. "It's the only way. I can do it, I'm ready to face him."

Hotch looked on in silence and began to open his mouth to disapprove when JJ spoke up again

"Hotch, if I don't go in there, we'll never find our boys."

The comment hung in the air as everyone looked to their Unit Chief for the call; he closed his eyes in deep thought. Morgan balled his hands into fist already disliking the thought of JJ going into the interrogation.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked

"Yes." JJ said quickly not letting her mind actually think on the subject.

He gave a nodded in approval as everyone rose to their feet.

* * *

JJ stood outside the door to the small interrogation room frozen in place. A flurry of memories of pain and fear circulated in her mind. She took in a ragged breath trying to calm her nerves. Hotch came up from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder which made JJ jump.

"Sorry"

"It's fine, I was just thinking. I just didn't hear you come up behind me."

"You won't be alone, Rossi is already in there, and we're right in the other room behind the glass."

JJ couldn't help a small laugh escape her lips, she felt like she was back in training at the academy, going into her first interrogation on her own.

"If he starts going off-"

"I know. Make him get back on the topic of the boys. Hotch I'm not a new agent, I know how to do an interrogation." Hotch gave her a look at her comment that said okay. He patted her on the shoulder lightly before leaving her side and entering the room next door. She took in one last deep breath before twisting the handle and walking inside.

* * *

Hotch entered the dark room to see Reid and Morgan standing in front of the glass portal silently. Reid looked back in Hotch's direction, "How was she?" He asked

"She said she was fine, but looking at her I could tell she was apprehensive…" He stopped talking when the door in the other room opened causing the two men inside to focus their attention on mystery person entering. Curtis' mouth twisted into a devious smile as he recognized the woman entering the room.

"God I hate that son of a bitch." Morgan spitted out venomously "This is what he wants, and we're playing right into his hand."

Reid sighed in agreement, the entire team knew Curtis was playing them, even when he was in custody; he still had all of the control and power in his sick game. "Zugzwang" he said under his breath.

* * *

After a few moments of silence, Rossi slammed his hands on the metal table causing Curtis to turn his head to the noise. His smile vanished; he kept a mask of calmness, yet his eyes screamed the fury Curtis was feeling towards Rossi for intruding on his time with JJ.

"That's right, I'm still here." Rossi venomously whispered. JJ sat down as the two men stared at each other in silence. Curtis turned his attention back to blonde sitting across from him; he resituated himself making all of the metal on him clatter and echo in the room. He bit into his bottom lip as his eyes roamed over every inch that he could see.

"You asked for me, and now I'm here. How did you break Izzy Rogers out of the Super max prison?." JJ said as calmly as she could. She kept her hands clasped together on the table, trying to give off the impression that she wasn't afraid, but she didn't dare lifting her hands since she knew they would be trembling. Curtis let a smile creep onto his face; he leaned in a little closer, he took in a deep breath before being pushed back by Rossi.

"Strawberries and fear." He quietly chuckled "You might have all of them fooled, but I can see the fear just spilling out of you."

"That's enough!" Rossi yelled

"It's okay." JJ waved before quickly rejoining her hands, trying to settle the older agent. Rossi moved to be right behind Curtis, his body language showed that he was on the verge of punching him if Curtis were to say anything else. "Curtis you have 5 seconds to tell me something we don't know or I'm leaving, I'm not falling for your bullshit game." JJ continued

He hissed mockingly as he pulled his hands closer to his body "Ooh, that hurts. But I believe I said I would only talk to you, and Agent Mario over here is infringing on my one simple demand. " Curtis said and turned around to meet Rossi's furious eyes staring him right back.

"You aren't getting to be in here alone with her." He spit back

"Then I guess you won't find out where Izzy is with Jack and Henry. They are as good as dead without my help. You get to let two boys' death hang over your head."  
"Rossi." JJ squeaked causing both men's head to turn to her meek voice. "Leave…now."

Rossi's jaw dropped at her words. He looked back to the mirror asking their Unit Chief, hidden behind it, what to do. JJ turned to look back at the glass. "I can do this, we don't have much of a choice."

Her eyes focused on her reflection and looked at it in pure hatred, and then she saw Curtis behind her a wicked smile extending from ear to ear. A few moments of silence passed in the room and then finally a light tap reverberated against the glass, giving the answer that was inevitable. Rossi crumpled his hands into fists; he took a step to leave but stopped and turned back to the man covered in chains sitting before him. He pushed the chair back and pressed his finger into the man's chest. JJ rose to her feet from the sudden outburst.

"You disrespect her in anyway or even look at her funny. I will make you regret ever being born." Rossi hissed pressing his finger deeper into Curtis' ribcage.

"Rossi." JJ whispered putting a hand on his shoulder. He straightened himself again giving Curtis a final look of anger and disgust before leaving JJ alone with Curtis.

JJ's eyes glanced at the man who's eyes were fixated on the burn marks littering her arms. She crossed her arms against her chest to eliminate his ability to see his work close up and returned to her chair.

"Now, tell me-."

Curtis put a hand up stopping JJ mid sentence. He looked back to the glass mirror, before speaking. "If any of you come into this room from here on, I will stop giving you the information you most desire, this is a long awaited conversation between myself and Agent Jareau, and I don't want it tainted by any of you. If anyone comes through that door, you are destroying any chance of finding the boys, and are ultimately leading them to their very painful deaths." JJ balled her hands into fists at the comment. "Tap on the glass if you understand." There was a minute of silence; Curtis turned his attention back on the blonde agent with eyes like daggers. Another dull tap resonated in the still room, which made Curtis smile when his demands were being followed to a tee.

"For every question you ask, I will ask my own. All questions must be answered fully and truthfully. Do you understand?" He paused, a devilish smile flashed across his face. He looked at the blonde who remained stagnant in anger; he licked his lips before continuing. "Good, now that all of the rules have been stated. Agent Jareau, we can begin."

* * *

"Why in God's name are we bending to every demand of that son of a bitch?" Rossi asked walking into the second room where the three other men stood like statues by the glass.

"That's a great question." Morgan scoffed, hating the idea as much as Rossi.

Hotch turned to the two agents, with the stoic expression they had come to know. "We are getting nowhere with trying to find a money trail or any kind of digital trail with Garcia, the only way we are going to find those boys is with that man in there." He paused pointing his finger at the glass. "I hate it just as much as the two of you, but until we have a concrete lead that will get us on the right track we have no other option. So if you're done questioning my leadership and ability to make decisions."

Both men nodded in agreement, not wanting to overstep the already crossed boundaries within this ordeal.

"Morgan how was Curtis' body language in your opinion when Rossi and I were interrogating him?" Reid asked

"There wasn't anything, until you asked about JJ directly. Then he seemed closed off, but more like he was trying to hold something back than just uncooperative. Why, what's cooking in that brain of yours Reid?"

"Since we can't ask him ourselves, or stop the situation at hand, I'm focusing my attention on the question I asked him earlier, 'Why JJ?'"

"Morgan and I already created the profile that he was seeing her as surrogate for Strauss. He's bent on revenge and blames JJ for not being able to kill Blake in that ranch house. "

"It's wrong." Morgan said, "There are factors that are inconsistent between the two."  
"Like what?" Rossi asked

"With Strauss it was about a painful death with the motive of revenge, but with JJ it's about destroying her, prolonging her suffering with the motive of dominance and power over all of us." Morgan paused watching the two in the other room sit in silence, JJ had asked how he had managed to get Izzy out of the super max prison, and Curtis leaned forward making his head reach the middle of the table, about a foot or so away from JJ's.

"And then there's…" He trailed off knowing JJ hadn't want to discuss the full details of their time with Curtis with the team, it sickened him that she felt ashamed of what happened. Curtis' voice crackled into the room.

"I didn't do it alone, if that's what you're asking. I had a doctor that was able to supply her with a drug that made her look like she was dead, that same doctor was the one on call when she was brought into the medical bay, he confirmed her 'death', from there her body was transported to the prison's morgue, which is only guarded by a single prison guard since who cares about decomposing corpses of killers and monsters." He paused and licked his lips. "But the guard on duty is a...friend" He chuckled. "He gave her a guard's uniform and then she was able to slip past all the security checkpoints untouched. I was just outside the compound waiting for her and then we were gone."

* * *

"Names. Curtis, I want the names." JJ barked out after the story.

"In due time, I gave you an answer for your question, now you can answer one of mine." He sneered leaning as far forward as he could, straining himself to get closer to her. "How did it feel?' He whispered sinisterly "How did it feel to kill Jason, to watch the life slip out of him because of your doing."

She balled her hands into fists as the question struck chord, her heart rate began to race as one of her secrets was spoken aloud for her team to hear. Her eyes flickered upward where a new figure stood behind Curtis.

"Jason" she gasped under her breath looking at the bloody figure with a knife protruding out of his torso. He came closer to the table a trail of blood dribbling onto the ground as he walked. "you're a murder" His voice growled, "I pleaded with you, I asked you to have mercy, if you were to wait I wouldn't be dead!" His voice rose as he slammed his hands on the metal table, "How did it feel!" He knelt down to be eye to eye with her "Tell me!"

She looked away from the man and her eyes found her hands that were covered in a dark crimson. She took in a sharp breath and lifted her hands in disbelief. JJ's hands shook vigorously in front of her face as a tear fell from her eye.

Curtis stared on in amazement as the blonde agent was terrified by an unknown element. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"He's here isn't he Jennifer?" Curtis asked causing the blonde to look up at him

"Yes." She said gravely flickering her eyes to the man only a few inches from her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the figure's breath brushed against her.

"The first one sticks with you forever." He sighed in reverie as he thought of his own first kill. "That voice begging you to end their suffering." He leaned in closer to her close enough for her to smell his breath as he spoke softly "But you don't because you like the feeling of their life slipping out of your hands." He paused relishing the scene in front of him of the strong blonde agent broken by his own doing.

"How did it feel?" He whispered

* * *

"Come on JJ." Derek whispered his hands on the glass; he yearned to be in that room with her to comfort her, to help her fight off the attacks, to kill the man causing her more pain. "Don't let him in, beat it." He pressed his forehead against the glass causing it to fog with his breath. "Hotch we got to do something." He said louder trying to find a solution to his friend's suffering.

"If we go in there we'll never find the boys. She has to overcome whatever is blocking her." Hotch said anger tinted in his voice; he hated it just as much as Morgan to see her in pain.

JJ slumped in her chair in defeat, her body language said it all she was being assaulted on two fronts and was losing an already decided battle.

"Come on JJ, Don't give up!" Morgan yelled slamming his fists on the table.

* * *

JJ sat in her chair exhausted from the torture in her mind and in front of her. She wanted to curl in a ball and die, anything to stop the torture from occurring.

"Your team would be disgusted with you." Jason whispered in her ear. "You aren't the innocent agent they knew." His voice flickered to her other ear. "No you're a murderer, a criminal, scum of the earth. And that's all they would see."

She balled her hands into fists at the words that struck her deep. For years she had been the one hunting down the killers ending lives of others, causing the widowing of wives and husbands, of families losing a loved one, of mothers becoming motherless. And now she was one of them.

"Your boy would be repulsed by you." Jason spit out venomously

Her eyes shot open at the words. Anger filled her giving her a new sense of self. Jason took a step back.

"Get out." She rasped. Curtis looked at the blonde, with a new fire inside her, in confusion at whom the words were directed towards. The blonde turned to the glass, "give me 10 minutes alone." She spoke louder. Her eyes found her own reflection, it repulsed her at the figure she saw. The once strong woman able to take on anything, now a beaten and battered fragile shell that would break with any conflict. She hated herself for the weakness. A dull tap hit the glass signaling her request was accepted and she turned back to the man behind her.

"You wanted an answer." She retorted to the confused look on his face. She paused waiting a few extra seconds to make sure no one else would hear what she was about to say. "I knew he would've killed me if the roles were reversed so I didn't feel anything as I stabbed him." She paused as she moved her fingers over the back of her other hand. "And then watching the life drain out of his body, watching his suffering end, I was jealous. But as he slipped away it finally hit me, I was horrified with myself and felt guilty. I'm nothing like you. I don't get off on the pain of others. Wolfe's blood is on my hands, but he killed himself the moment he started following you. I hate myself for playing into your game, but I don't regret what I did." She paused turning her attention to the bloody figure standing beside the table. "You were already a dead man, Curtis would've killed you himself if I didn't do it, I gave you an escape from his hell. I'm done with your torment get out of my head!" She watched as Jason's figure dissolved into nothing and she breathed in a sigh of relief.

"So much turmoil inside such a small figure." He chuckled causing her to jolt, she had forgotten about the other man in room for a moment, and now focused her attention back on the nightmare sitting in front of her. "Inner demons consuming every little piece of you. Guilt, Regret, Self-hate, Deception." he paused looking up at the ceiling with a perplexed smug look on his face, "How many secrets are you keeping from them, I wonder. Have you put yourself back together like a house of cards on the verge of caving in if one thing were to come out?"

She didn't respond to his jab, just stared at him in silence.

"And if the information you didn't want them to know were to come out?" He asked with a cynical grin plastered on his face.

She didn't answer his question, which only fueled his jeering. "Have you told them about us?" He asked, his hand slithered out onto the table until being stopped by his restraints. "And our time together." He reached out further, his fingers just barely grazed hers, and she pulled back instantly to his touch.

"No." She hissed maliciously "None of them need to know kind of monster you are."

"Tsk Tsk Tsk." He jeered, "Come now JJ, you work with a group of people whose job is to see past the masks and dig up the secrets. You're telling me none of them have noticed the difference."

JJ's eyes pulled away from the man and she grabbed her stomach. Curtis' eyes flickered to where her hand traveled to, and he let out a huge sigh at the sight. "Oh, that's too big of a secret to keep my dear." He taunted, "I asked two questions, so it's your turn to ask two."

She remained silent focused on the last jab Curtis had made, he was right the secret she held was to large to keep hidden for much longer. She knew once it came out she would be humiliated and rejected by the group. He licked his lips relishing the silence of the blonde. JJ hated the fact that he was winning; even when he was in custody he had a way of staying a step ahead. _Get a grip Jareau! He wants you to be broken, don't let him get to you._ She silently yelled at herself. _Ask the question you've wanted to know._

"Why Izzy Rogers?" She asked her eyes never straying from his steely gaze. He raised an eyebrow to the question. Out of all the questions she could have asked about finding her son and she chose that one. He leaned back in his chair for a moment.

"She was a perfect match." He said quickly

"If you aren't going to follow your own rules, then I have no reason being here." She said rising from her chair.

He chuckled at her response, "I am following my rules JJ, you just didn't let me finish."

She sat back down and stared at him with her arms crossed telling him to continue.

"I took two boys, and while I can handle two children, I knew that I would need a babysitter when I was out checking on you." He paused again "I needed a capable subordinate that wouldn't question my motives, and could take care of the boys."

JJ's skin crawled as Curtis spoke. "Izzy Rogers had her own prejudice against you and Agent Hotchner, along with her previous experience with Henry, I knew she was the perfect match-"  
"Until you perfect match decided to wrap you up all nice with a bow and lay you in our lap."

Curtis' hands slowly curled into fists, JJ's eyes flickered to the movement and then back to his gaze. She knew she had finally struck a nerve. JJ leaned in closer and furrowed her brow.

"During all that time you spent watching me, Izzy Rogers was back at your safe house planning on how to get rid of you." She gave a sly smile "Tsk tsk tsk, you're telling me you didn't notice a difference in her behavior right before she dumped you." She jeered

He sat in silence, his knuckles cracking as his balled up hands tightened, revealing his rising temper with her own jabs.

"It was an unfortunate miscalculation. But an even larger one for you."

She moved her head to one side at the words.

"I was the only thing standing in her way from hurting the two boys." He spoke "Now she's alone with the two of them, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them isn't dead yet." He paused "At least you have a replacement on the way for Henry."

"Enough." Her voice cracked, and she quickly hid it by looking down at her watch checking how much time she had left before the team was back behind the glass. JJ took in a deep breath before she leaned in closer only inches away from his face. "You say anything, and this is over." She whispered

"I'm shaking." He rasped, his eyes met the angry glare of the blonde who remained still; he leaned back with his hands opened up in a surrendering stance. "Alright, alright, you win, not a peep." He moved his right hand over his mouth like a zipper before letting it rest on the metal table. JJ rose from her chair and moved towards the door. "I'll ask my second question when I get back."

Curtis watched the blonde walk out of the room; he smiled from his time with the woman. He lost his power for a moment, but was quickly able to regain it, she had to many weaknesses and he knew them all.

* * *

Morgan waited outside the door pacing back and forth; he stopped when the door opened revealing a woman in the door. She jolted to a stop surprised by the brown eyes staring at her intently. JJ opened her mouth to speak after she closed the door, but the man grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her out of the doorway. The two stepped into a broom closet.

Again JJ attempted to speak, but was stopped by his hand being raised in front of her. Pain was clearly etched on Morgan's face; he closed his eyes and looked away from the blonde shaking his head.

"Don't-" he said biting into his bottom lip "Don't say anything,"

She looked at him confused by his actions. "Hotch wasn't going to leave you fully alone, I stayed behind since I thought you told me everything and I know you haven't told them everything. But I guess I was wrong, you've been lying to me this entire time just as much as them."

" Derek I-"

"I said don't speak!" He yelled causing her to jump back "How could you?"  
He asked opening his eyes that were filled to the brim with tears ready to spill over. "How could you keep that secret from me."

She looked down and grabbed her stomach, she felt disgusted with herself. This was exactly what she thought would happen.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice softened to be barely audible between the two. "I loved you, I told you everything that was plaguing me about what happened and before, but you've never opened up to me."

"Loved?" She choked on the word. He grabbed her chin to bring her eyes to meet his.

"I was there too, remember? I was suffering while you were, I saw what they did to you, and you saw what they did to me. But you think that what happened is only your burden to bear...It's not. I've always been right beside you I've always loved _my_ JJ, the one that would talk to me about anything, but I can't love this JJ look-a-like hell-bent on staying closed off and trying to take on every problem by herself."

Tears streamed down both of their faces as the two looked at each other in silence in the dimly lit room. JJ looked away and began shaking her head. Morgan continued to stare at the crumbling blonde. "I'm sorry," He rasped, "I shouldn't have yelled at you. Or cornered you." The blonde continued to shake her head in silence.

"No" her voice scratched, "No you're right, and he was right. I made myself into a lie, a house of lies on the verge of collapse. I'm sorry." She breathed grabbing her stomach tightly. "I'm sorry I never told you about what was going on. When I found out, I could've aborted, but it would be another life that Curtis made me end. I couldn't do that to something so helpless and innocent. And I thought that if I told you, that you would be disgusted with me, I believed you would hate me." Her voice cracked as more tears streamed from her eyes. Derek cupped her face within his hands and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. "There's the JJ I love." He paused as she continued to cry at his words. "I could never hate you. I love your competitive nature, and how excited you get whenever you watch your team in any sport score, and the way your nose crinkles when you smell your coffee, and your selfless nature." He grabbed her hand from her stomach. "I could never be disgusted with a person as strong as you." He planted a kiss on her hand "I love you so much." He paused placing another kiss on her hand

"Just no more secrets." He whispered

She nodded in response unable to formulate words after his response. He pulled her in to his chest and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Say it." He whispered in her ear.

She pulled away to stare into the deep brown pools gazing back.

"No more secrets." She whispered back. Derek quickly pushed himself back against her connecting his lips to hers. She pressed back against his touch letting all of the overbearing weight of her secrets flow away. They stayed connected for over a minute savoring in each other's taste. They pulled away for a quick breath before reconnecting, Derek pulled away after a long while. He looked down at his watch and then back up to the blonde.

"We need to get back." He said moving to the door.

JJ nodded her head in response and moved towards the door.

"I still have one more question." She said walking out of the closet. He chuckled at her response, in awe of the enduring woman that could never be fully shattered.

The two walked back together, and stopped when they reached the two doors.

"Hey JJ." She looked back to the man standing by the identical door before she opened her own. "Don't let him get under your skin. That's his game, to keep you focused on you and not on Henry and Jack. When you started to taunt back at him he got frazzled. Remember, that's how you win… get under his skin."

She nodded and began to turn the nob to enter the room when he stopped her again.

"Hey one last thing, remember you aren't alone, I'm right here." He gave her a smile and a wink before opening his own door and entering the adjacent room to the one she was about to enter. She took in a deep breath calming her racing heartbeat before opening the door to face the monster once more.

* * *

 **Okay so that was Ch. 9, I hope you enjoyed it, it was definitely a hard write for me. Trying to drop a major bomb while maintaining the characters integrities was pretty hard...but I think I did it somewhat adequately. And its only going to get rougher for me when the bombs start dropping in front of the group...yippee for me!**

 **LOL, but I do it for my enjoyment and for y'all's so hopefully I fulfilled my duties as a FanFiction author and wrote well enough for you to continue reading my sequel.**

 **Please please please review, so I can read everyone's thoughts, comments, critiques etc. about my chapters as you continue in JJ and the rest of the team's journey.**

 **As always review, favorite, follow, comment, suggest, message me or do whatever floats your boat.**

 **Thanks for reading, I'll get ch. 10 up at some point in the near future.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright here's chapter 10, thanks to everyone that reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just read my story. Please review so I can read everyone's thoughts about the story. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks again to everybody that reviewed.**

* * *

"Lets go you little snot nosed brats!" Izzy yelled yanking the two boys by their wrists into the beat up Volkswagen. Henry began to cry as he was shoved into the car and banged his head against the other door. "Oh shut up!" She yelled slamming the car door. Jack glared at the woman through the dirty window, he turned his attention back to his friend who was sniffling and rubbing his head slowly.

"Are you okay?" jack asked bending the boy's head he lightly touched his fingers to the back of Henry's skull before the younger boy pulled back.

"Ouch!" he yelled "That hurt Jack!"

"I'm sorry, Henry I just needed to look at your head." He explained, jack looked down at his fingers and saw a tiny smearing of blood from where he touched Henry's head. Jack's face contorted from concern to anger and he turned back to the window to see the woman outside with a man.

"Henry, listen to me." Jack voiced quietly "The next time she opens the door, I'm going to do something." He paused and turned back towards the little boy. "And when I do, I want you to run." He paused again, peering into the younger boy's eyes to make sure his message was clear. "You don't stop, even if I'm not following. You run. Okay?"

"Jack, you're scaring me-"

"Do you understand? The next time that door opens you run as fast as you can and you don't stop. Okay?"

The smaller boy nodded his head slowly in response. "Okay Jack." He whispered.

* * *

Izzy leaned her back against the beat up car door, and smiled at the man walking towards her.

"I'm sorry the car ain't any better." His voice drawled out, holding out an envelope, which Izzy took from him. She peered inside and ran her thumb along the edges of the stack of bills inside. "That's about $2000" he replied as if knowing the question she was about to ask.

Izzy pushed herself off of the car and leaned in close to him. "Thanks for your help." She whispered seductively in his ear. She pulled away and turned her head back towards the car. "Once I get rid of those two little brats-"

The man turned her head back towards his and placed his lips on hers to stop her. He pulled back after a few seconds with a smile on his face. "I've been wantin' to do that for quite awhile now, Curtis told me you were purtty, but damn…" She laughed halfheartedly as she watched his eyes wander lower towards her chest.

"Eyes up here cowboy." She said, tilting his chin back up, to keep his eyes from drifting to far down. "Curtis loves to give you only partial information. Many secrets hiding inside that mind." She leaned in closer again and whispered in his ear, "But I have secrets too." He chuckled at her response and put a hand on her shoulder letting his forefinger get entangled in her medium length hair.

"Speakin' of Curtis, where is that bastard? He don't usually send people here without givin' me a call first. Or comin' with 'em himself."

"Maybe he got distracted by something." She chuckled, a small grin flashed across her face. Izzy turned back towards the car, "Well, it's been a blast getting to know you Cowboy, but I have two kids in the back that need to go to bed."

"Now hold on a second. Maybe I should call 'im. Make sure nothing ain't wrong." He said pulling out his phone

Izzy rolled her eyes at the comment. "Damn, and I was really starting to like the country accent." She sighed

"What was-" His question was cut off with a loud BANG. He gasped as the bullet entered his stomach and blood started to spill out from his side. The man dropped to his knees with his hands clasped over his bloody wound. Izzy watched as the man crumpled to the ground, gasping in pain as his body was surrounded in a pool of red.

"Looks like you're out to greener pastures." She sneered as the man's eyes turned lifeless and his body became still. She tossed the envelope full of cash next to him before turning back to the car. She sauntered over to the driver side seat and got into the car. Izzy turned back to see the two boys petrified at what they just witnessed. "One word out of the two of you and that's exactly what will happen to you. Got it!" She yelled, the two boys shook their head quickly in silence to acknowledge her threat. She gave them a wry smile before turning back to the front and starting the car. The beat up Volkswagen sped off, leaving the body on the side of the road.

* * *

"What were the names of the doctor and guard that helped you break Izzy out?" JJ asked her voice crackling into the dark room where Hotch, Rossi, Reid, and Morgan stood watching.

Reid inched closer to Derek and shifted his eyes from the glass to the darker man beside him. "What happened?" He whispered softly which caused the man to slowly turn his gaze to the younger man.

"It's not my place to tell." He whispered back and turned his attention back to the glass. Reid rolled his lips in and nodded twice before sliding away from the man back to his original stop.

Curtis chuckled, "Walter Harris, and James Lewis." Morgan's eyes widen at the second name.

"Lewis was that-"Rossi began

"That son of a bitch was the inside man that helped Curtis get in and out of the hospital." Morgan growled

Hotch tapped on the glasses, signaling for JJ to leave the room. She reluctantly agreed and slowly stood up. Curtis let out a long exaggerated sigh, "Awe, I was just about to ask my next question, I guess I'll just have to save it for later." He sneered giving the blonde a dastardly smile as she left the room.

"Reid give Garcia the two names and tell her to pull up everything she can and to meet the rest of us in the conference room." Hotch commanded turning to the younger agent. Morgan quickly exited the room to meet up with JJ outside; Reid followed right on his heels to deliver his message from the Unit Chief. Hotch was about to leave when he noticed the other man still staring at the glass.

"I just don't get it Aaron." He said aloud "How this guy can get whomever he wants to follow him. Doctors, prison guards, closet sociopaths. And then is able to insert them into the investigation. He's 20 steps ahead and we're only moving the way he wants us to."

"He's been planning this for a long time Dave. Foyet spent his 10-year hiatus studying hundreds of prison schematics so that he could escape no matter which prison he was sent to. Curtis has spent his hiatus on creating partnerships with anyone he deems a necessity. But now we have 2 names."

"But how many others is he keeping secret." Rossi sighed rubbing the back of his head as he turned around.

* * *

Morgan pulled JJ into the corner of the conference room, and checked the door to see if anyone was coming. "I'm not trying to rush you," He said at hushed volume. "But you need to bring the team out of the dark about everything, before it comes out and explodes." The blonde closed her eyes and nodded knowing he was right. He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed slightly. "No one will think of you differently." He finished "They'll see you like I always have, a strong selfless woman." He placed a light kiss on her forehead before swiftly moving away as Rossi and Hotch crossed the catwalk and entered the room.

"Reid and Garcia are right behind us" Rossi said sitting down in his usual spot. Morgan remained standing near JJ who fixated her eyes on the center of the table deep in thought. Reid briskly walked into the room and took a seat next to Rossi; he grabbed a pen and began rotating it in his hand.

"I'm here my darlings." Garcia said rushing into the room with two laptops in hand. "I began background searches on both James Lewis and Walter Harris. I will have absolutely everything on them, all the way up to their kindergarten first grading period report card. I am not leaving any stone under turned for them to hide in of their dirty little secrets under."

Garcia looked up at the blonde who remained still and fixated on the table. "JJ?" She asked, "You okay?" The blonde quickly moved her eyes back up to the voice that was speaking.

"Oh… yeah. She coughed rubbing the back of her neck with one her hands. She bit into her bottom lip as she slowly sat down next to Morgan. "I'm good."

"Morgan, JJ, Lewis was one of the doctors that helped you for the past three months, so right now you're our best source of information." Hotch informed

"He never pushed for anything, he was a doctor doing his job. If we had a problem, he tried to help, he gave us techniques to help control. But he wasn't obsessed with us, nothing to suspect that it was a con." Morgan said speaking for the two

"JJ anything else that maybe you noticed that Morgan didn't?" Hotch asked

Morgan looked over a JJ who looked as white as a sheet, he took hold of her hand underneath the table and began to rub circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "It's okay." He whispered softly, she nodded back at him and took in a long shaky breath.

"I haven't been completely truthful with everyone. And it's my fault we haven't been seeing the big picture." She said quickly, she bit into her bottom lip as she paused and inhaled another shaky breath. "There were things that happened, that I never told you about." Her hand within Derek's tightened as she paused. "I killed Jason Wolfe. I was the one that stabbed him." She closed her eyes tightly trying to fight back the tears. "I told you Curtis killed him, but it was me, Curtis forced me to kill Jason or he would kill Derek," She opened her eyes and let out a short sigh as a pressure lifted off of her chest. Derek gave her a small smile, knowing that was the easier secret to tell.

"When Curtis had me, he didn't just burn me and cut me… he-" Her voice cracked as the word she was thinking didn't want to escape her lips.

"Oh JJ" Garcia gasped pulling her hands to her face as tears slipped down her cheeks

"He raped me…" She paused licking her lips that felt dry but had a salty taste from the tears running down. "Multiple times." She quickly let out, causing Morgan to look at her in shock, he knew of only one of the attacks. "And I'm pregnant… but I couldn't let another innocent life be killed because of Curtis. I wouldn't let him make me kill another life." She choked on the last word as tears began to flow from her eyes as her dark secrets were brought to light. JJ took in another long shaky breath and wiped the tears from her eyes; her eyes flickered to everyone else around the room.

Garcia had her face covered as her body racked with sobbing from the news. Reid's eyes were bloodshot as tears fell from his eyes. Rossi's eyes were closed and his face expressed his anger and pain as JJ spoke. Hotch kept his eyes on the blonde, a look of concern and sorrow masked by a stoic expression.

She licked her lips again before continuing. "I thought that if you knew about what happened, then you would all be disgusted of me and would reject me. But I know now that that wasn't the case. I thought I could handle all of my problems on my own, but it's only caused us to be further behind and caused more obstacles to block our investigation. I was so stupid." Her voice dissipated as the last sentence fell from her lips. Garcia quickly moved from her chair and pulled the blonde into her chest, hooking her arms tightly around.

"You are not stupid Jennifer Jareau." She sniffled "you are so strong," he own voiced cracked as more tears streamed down her cheek dampening JJ's hair. "And so brave."

"Thank you." Hotch said cuing Garcia to release JJ from her vice grip hug and return to her chair. "I know how hard it is to open up about anything, and for you to do that-"

"It's admirable." Rossi interrupted "to share dark events, and admit your own mistakes. It takes a remarkable person to do any of that."

A shrill beeping from Garcia's laptops made everyone focus their attention from JJ to her. She wiped away the moisture on her face and took in a deep breath to settle herself. "Okay Walter Harris, born in Nacogdoches Texas, abandoned at church when he was a baby, was adopted by a nice couple when he was 7, was a high school rodeo star with scholarships, but he dropped out of high school half way through his senior year. Weird. He's squeaky clean, nada on any misdemeanors or anything, this guy hasn't even gotten a speeding ticket. Has been married…" She paused astonished by the amount of marriage licenses "6 times. Uh, here's something, since 2005 the guy has been in 20 different blue collar jobs none lasting for more than half a year, but in 2012 the guy got a job as a prison guard and has held it steady ever since."

"That must have been when he met Curtis." Rossi said

"Makes since this guy can barely keep a minimum wage job for half a year and then suddenly changes and has had the same job for three years." Morgan agreed

"Not to mention going from an mentally inferior position in the blue collar jobs to a mentally superior job as a prison guard being able to dictate convicts lives." Reid added

"Uh oh…" Garcia said as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"What is it Baby Girl?" Morgan asked with an eyebrow raised

"Harris withdrew $2000 from his bank account earlier today."

"You don't take out two grand for no reason." Rossi said "Izzy Rogers?"

"Or he was tipped off about Curtis being arrested." JJ retorted "And he's in the wind."

"Oh...I don't think Harris will be spending that $2000 anytime soon." Garcia voiced, causing the entire team to give her a confused look. "An M.E. report just came in-"

"He's dead?" Morgan asked

"Yeah, cause of death was…" She sighed as her eyes read over the report. "Exsanguination from a gun shot to the abdomen."

"That's her M.O." Rossi sighed, "Do you think she might go after Lewis next?"

"She's trying to disappear-" Reid began

"If you were going to disappear wouldn't you take the money?" Garcia asked quickly getting a nod from Morgan in response "The report says that Harris had $2000 still on him when his body was found."

"She didn't take the money, which means she's tying up loose ends. Killing anyone whose seen her since her escape." Morgan finished

JJ closed her eyes as a realization formulated in her mind. "Then Henry and Jack are just two more loose ends that she has to get rid of."

"We need to bring Dr. Lewis in, he might know where Izzy Rogers is. Reid and Morgan go to the hospital and check for him there. Garcia send me Lewis' home address, Dave you're with me. Garcia go over the police report from Harris' death, scan every camera possible at the time of the report to find Rogers." Everyone nodded

"Be safe my loves." Garcia said as everyone rose and rushed out of the room.

"Hotch?" JJ said stopping the man before he left the conference room "What about me?"

"I know this is a lot to ask, but I want you to-"

"You want me to go back in with Curtis." She finished

"If it's too much, I understand-"

"No, I'll do anything to get our boys back." She interrupted again. Hotch placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a nod before walking through the doorway and joining the other three men at the elevator.

JJ let out a huge sigh and shook her head. Garcia came up behind her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"You aren't alone, you know that right? That we're all here to help you."

"Yeah." She said, Garcia gave her a look that asked why she was still standing in the door. "I just needed a moment, before I went back in there by myself."

"Oh no." Garcia began "There's no way I'm leaving you alone again."

JJ gave Garcia a smile that said thank you, and Penelope wrapped her arms JJ and gave her a light squeeze. "I'll be right behind you the whole time."

* * *

JJ closed the door behind her and turned to the man sitting at the table.

"He's dead. Walter Harris." She said sitting down in the chair opposite of Curtis. He looked at her with a face clearly confused by her words.

"That's funny, but you can't rattle me." Curtis chuckled

"I'm not lying Curtis. He took out $2000 this morning, and was found dead a few hours later. Bled out from a gunshot wound to the stomach, sound familiar?"

Curtis' hands balled into fists as his jaw jutted out. "I want the autopsy report."

"Not going to happen."

Curtis remained silent, at the denied request. He closed his eyes in silence as JJ's word finally hit him. JJ relished his discomfort for once she was in control. "You seem choked up at the fact that he's dead. So who was he to you Curtis?"

Two minutes went by in silence; Curtis remained still with JJ watching him closely. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked up at the blonde agent across from him and let out a huge sigh. "Walter Harris, was a childhood friend of mine when my family would vacation in Nacogdoches. My parents were killed in a crash in Nacogdoches when I was 17, Walter helped me get home. Or rather ran away with me, because his parents abusive. We went out separate ways for about 30 years, and then I helped him get a job within the prison system. He was my family."

"He's telling the truth." Garcia's voice crackled into JJ's ear. "Car crash kills husband and wife, only survivor a teen boy, in Nacogdoches when Curtis was 17, that same week Walter Harris dropped out of high school. From there both fall off the map, until Curtis applies for the FBI, and Walter begins his musical chairs game with jobs." JJ nodded her head as a thank you for confirmation to Garcia.

"Why did he take out $2000 that morning?" JJ asked

Curtis again was reluctant to give up any information, but finally opened his mouth.

"I would wire Walter money into his account for his services, and in return if I sent anyone to Walter, he would get them a car and $2000 to disappear. I would contact Walter or show up at the exchange to make sure nothing went wrong." He bit into his bottom lip as his words hit him hard.

"She didn't take the money." Curtis tensed at the words his face becoming a dark shade of red. "She tricked him to get him alone and vulnerable and killed him in cold blood." Curtis shook his head in agitation. "Tell me where she's going Curtis."

"I don't know?"

"JJ, Reid says that Lewis hasn't been to the hospital in a week, and Rossi just called saying that the house has been vacant for awhile." Garcia's voice said in JJ's ear informing her of the news.

"Would she go to James for any reason?"

"It's possible."

"Where would they meet."

"Outside the hospital, or the safe house. That's the only places where we would meet up."

"Where else Curtis? Where else would Lewis go?"

"I don't know where… but he has some cabins. He never told me where, he just offered it them as a safe house, but didn't want to leave the city."

JJ's skin crawled since she knew the reason for him wanting to remain in the city. Her burnt skin flared as the haunting memory from three months ago resurfaced in her mind.

"Lewis hasn't used a credit card in over 5 years, there isn't a trail I can follow. I got nothing JJ." Garcia's voice said in her ear, full of defeat.

"If you can't tell me where Izzy is going then you are of no use to me." JJ growled, "Give me something Curtis"

Curtis eyes shook with anger and frustration, but then settled on the table. He looked up at JJ. "Give me the autopsy report."

JJ stared back at him her own face becoming redder as anger coursed through her veins. There was a knock at the door, which broke both of their gazes. JJ rose and went to the door. Garcia stood outside holding a thin file, and gave a nod laying the file in JJ's hands. Garcia took the handle and closed the door before JJ could protest.

JJ walked back to her chair and sat down holding the file up for Curtis to see.

"If I give you this you tell me everything. No more games Curtis. No more demands. Understand?"

He nodded his eyes focused on the manila folder in her hand. "I- I understand."

JJ placed the file on the table and slid it closer to the man that hesitantly opened it. He took in a sharp breath as his eyes found the picture of the body. A tear slipped down his cheek and puddled onto the picture. He looked up at the blonde agent with the picture held tightly in his hand.

"Lewis would create prescriptions for me under the alias Zachery Forgette. He said that sometimes he would use the alias for other things." Curtis paused looking down at the picture. "Lewis is an avid hunter, he said that he has multiple cabins for different hunting spots, very secluded. That's all I know."

* * *

Jack watched the buildings turn into hills as the car continued to drive on for hours, he watched trees flash by at a slow constant rate and then slowly increase as the car drove deeper into a wooded area. She turned off the road and drove down an uneven dirt path going deep into the forest.

"Jack where are we." Henry whispered softly. Izzy slammed her foot on the brake and the car jolted to a stop throwing the boys forward. Jack threw his arm out in time to stop Henry from bashing his head on the seat in front of him, but couldn't save himself from the same incident. She got out of the car quickly, pulling the gun out from the back of her pants. Jack's vision was blurred from injury but he quickly climbed over Henry to be closest to the door with Izzy standing right on the other side.

"Remember what I said?" He asked getting a small "uh huh" in response.

Jack watched the car door slowly begin to open and he slammed his foot into the door causing it to fly open, Izzy fell to the ground surprised by the outburst and the small hand gun dropped from her grip. Jack jumped out of the car and pinned himself on top of Izzy's chest, he slammed his hands down on her face hoping that some of his attacks were connecting.

"Why you little-" She started before getting a fist to the chin that caused her to grunt in pain.

"Henry run!" Jack yelled seeing the smaller boy standing behind him in fear. Henry took a few steps backward and then turned running away into the forest, Jack watched still throwing his arms at the woman's face but missing more than before. Izzy took the opening and threw a punch back at Jack connecting with his jaw sending him to the ground.

"You're going to pay for this!" She screamed wiping the blood from her nose. She threw another punch connecting with his ear, making black emerge in Jack's vision. He swung blindly connecting her shoulder. He threw another, but Izzy caught his fist within her hand. She twisted his arm, making him yelping in pain.

"You won't be hitting me again." She growled twisting his fist more until a dull crack resounded from his wrist. Jack screamed in agony as Izzy pinned his broken wrist to the ground. "Now you're going to be a good little boy and stand up." She hissed with her bloody spit speckling the boy's face. He grimaced in pain but shot her a look of anger.

Izzy grabbed Jack by his hair and pulled him to his feet, he struggled against her trying to free his wrist from her vice grip, but she was to strong for him. She pinned Jack against the car with her elbow pressed against his throat as she bent over and picked up the revolver. "Now, I have to find the other little brat."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed reading it, everything is starting to slowly wrap itself up. But it's been so much fun writing this story. And it certainly is not over yet.**

 **As always, favorite, follow, review, suggest, comment, message me or do whatever floats your boat.**

 **I'll update soon**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed since my last update. It really feels great when I get an email update from FanFiction with Review as the subject title. Again thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Oh! Oh! I got something." Garcia's voice yelled in JJ's ear. JJ quickly rose from her chair and scurried out of the room, leaving Curtis alone with the file as more tears slipped down his face.

JJ rushed into the dark room right beside the interrogation room. She saw Garcia's reflection illuminated in the glass by her computers.

"What did you find?' JJ asked

"Forgette has 5 properties in his name for hunting purposes. 2 are in Shenandoah National Park and the other three are in Michaux State Forest"

"I'm calling Hotch, he and Rossi are closer to the Michaux State Forest. What did you find on the camera's near the crime scene?"

"I found a car that was speeding out of the area, but I couldn't get a clear image of the driver, and the car disappears when they get about a half mile away from the scene. To make it simple, it was another dead end."

"Okay. I'm going to call Hotch. Call Morgan and tell him and Reid to head out to Shenandoah National Park."

* * *

Henry stopped to catch his breath behind a tree. He looked back in the direction he came from and heard a scream resonate through the trees.

"Jack?" He yelled quickly covering his mouth, "Run." He whispered, "don't stop running." He repeated Jack's command over and over in his head reminding himself to keep moving. Henry continued his pace in the opposite direction from the car. He stopped again, leaning himself against a tree hoping the overwhelming burning sensation in his chest would subside from his break. The boy gasped when he heard twigs snap close by and quickly dove into a bush to hide himself.

"Henry" A voice echoed through the trees. "Come out, Come out wherever you are." It sing-songed. Henry gulped, as the voice seemed to be drawing closer; his breaths were rapid like his heartbeat as more twigs snapped closer to his hiding place.

"I won't hurt you. Just come out and nothing will happen to you or Jack," the voice said.

"Don't listen to her!" another voice boomed before another yelp ricocheted through the trees.

"Shut up!" The first voice yelled

"Jack." He squeaked softly as a tear rolled down his cheek. He held his breath as two figures appeared from the shadows of the trees. Izzy had Jack pinned to her with one arm strung over his neck.

"Run Henry!" Jack yelled again before being hit on the side of his head with the gun. He grunted and fell to the ground landing on his already broken wrist. He twisted in agony as pain flared through his body. Henry closed his eyes and pressed his hands to his ears to block out the screams.

"I'll just have to make you shut up." She growled grabbing a rock from the ground. She swung it down towards Jack's head connecting with his jaw. A loud pop filled the forest before Jack grunted in pain. Izzy came down again with the stone right on Jack's nose causing blood to spill out and run down his already bruised face.

"That'll teach you to be quiet. Now get up." She grunted hoisting the boy back up by his hair and trapping him against her with an arm pressed against his throat.

"Henry." She sweetly voiced, "Come out and play with me and Jack." She pushed the boy forward, walking further into the woods and out of Henry's view. Henry kept his eyes closed for a few more minutes to make sure the two were gone. He listened trying to figure out where the woman had gone but couldn't hear anything. Henry slowly made his way out of the bush flickering his eyes everywhere around him to make sure she wasn't near. He took off flying through the forest, watching the ground to not trip, while also scanning the trees around him for Jack and the woman. He didn't stop running, his legs felt like jelly and his head pounded from the wound he sustained earlier but he kept moving.

As stars began to sprinkle the night sky, Henry slowed his pace but continued moving in the same direction. He looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed, and then glanced all around him. His eyes skimmed the dark moonlit forest until an orange light caught his attention in the distance. He walked in the direction of the object, moving slower to quiet his movements. As he neared the orange light he took cover behind a tree to stay hidden, Henry squinted trying to see what was giving off the orange light, and then he saw movement around it. He ducked behind the tree quickly; his heart rate and breaths increased as adrenaline pumped through his body once again. He slowly moved his head to get a view of the orange light again. Loud crackling noises came from the light as it flickered with the wind.

"Fire." He whispered causing his body to shiver as a gust of wind nipped at the back of his neck. Henry cautiously took a few more steps closer hoping to feel the warmth of the flame. He stopped when two figures appeared and huddled together, close to the light.

Henry got on his hands and knees and began slowly creeping closer to the flame; he focused his eyes on the people trying to make out their faces.

"It's a nice night for some S'mores." A deep voice chuckled causing small voices to cheer.

"Really, Paul, it's late and now you want to get them on a sugar rush?" A female voice asked annoyed

"Oh come on, we're having fun. Stop being such a stick in the mud." The deeper voice teased.

Henry scooted a few more inches closer and closed his eyes feeling the fuzzy warmth of the flame. He opened his eyes to see a pair staring back at him. A small girl crouching to be eye level with Henry peered into the bush at him with a smile.

"Hello" The small voice said. "Are you lost?"

Henry's eyes widened in horror at the fact that he had been found, his mind screamed for him to run, but his body completely exhausted felt like lead and he was unable to move.

"Hannah, honey what are you doing." The deep voice asked

"There's a boy in the bush. Can he have a S'more too Daddy?"

"Of coarse, I'll put an extra marshmallow on your stick for him." The deep voice chuckled causing the older female to grunt in disgust.

"Really Paul?" She groaned "Why do you always have to play along with her imaginary friends, she needs to grow up." The older female whispered harshly

"Oh come on, she's having fun-"

"But two marshmallows."

The two older voices continued to bicker quietly as the little girl inched closer to Henry in the bush.

"Do you want a S'more?" She asked Henry who continued to stare in disbelief.

"Hannah your S'mores are getting cold." The deep voice said

"He won't come out Daddy, I think he's stuck."

The man chuckled as his boots crunched on the forest floor nearing the girl on all fours staring at a bush.

"Oh yeah. Here let me hel-" The man stopped speaking as his eyes settled on Henry. "Susan call 911." He raised his voice to alert the woman, who looked up instantly with concern.

"Paul?" he turned his head at the response.

"Go call 911." He turned back to the little boy. "Hey there son, it's okay you're okay." He sweetly voiced reaching out his hand; Henry instantly tensed and backed away slightly which zapped any energy he had left. His body shook from the over exertion making the man even more tense.

"My name is Paul and this is Hannah, what's your name?" He asked

Henry hesitated conflicted on whether to remain silent or speak, his eyes flickered to the trees beside him looking for the woman hunting him, his voice shook as he said his name "H- Henry."

"Hi Henry, do you want to come sit by the fire." The man asked receiving a slow nod in response, "Okay. Here let me help you." Paul reached into the bush and pulled the boy to his feet. Henry wobbled as he walked slowly with the tall man to a tree stump close by the fire. "There you go." He smiled warmly helping Henry sit down on the stump. Hannah sat next to Henry, filled with curiosity about the mystery boy.

"Matthew go get some blankets." He said to a boy a year or two older than Henry staring in disbelief at the smaller boy. He quickly scurried inside his tent following his father's commands.

"Luke go get the first aid kit and a water bottle." A boy that looked to be about Jack's age ran towards a pickup truck near the two tents. Henry's eyes began to fill with tears as he remembered his friend still out in the forest. Susan emerged from one of the tents with a phone in hand. "Paul what's this-" She stopped when she saw the young boy covered in dirt shivering on the stump. Matthew surfaced from his tent and waddled over with a large blanket draped over him handing it to his dad. Paul quickly wrapped the shivering boy in the blanket.

He held out his hand towards his wife, who placed the phone in his hand. Paul dialed three numbers and placed the phone on his ear keeping his eyes alert on the boy.

"Hello? My name is Commander Paul McHenley, My family and I found a boy while camping in the woods. Yes that's right a boy. His name is Henry." Paul lowered the phone, "Henry how old are you?"

"7" He whispered scanning the forest

Paul nodded and raised the phone back to his ear. "7 years old, blonde hair, blue eyes,

"My mommy's in the FBI." Henry blurted out loudly, causing Paul to stare at the young boy in confusion.

"Uh- Ye-Yeah I'm still here." He said breaking his daze, "He says that his mother works for the FBI." He paused "Yes I'll keep the line open. Thank you." He finished, handing the phone back to his wife as his eldest son ran over with a white and red box and a bottle of water in hand.

"Henry how did you get that bump on your head?" Paul asked pulling out disinfectant wipes from the white box.

"A mean lady hurt me." His eyes filled with tears. "She still has my friend." His voice choked as salty water spilled down his face. "He- he told me to run. She hurt him, and I didn't do anything." He covered his head in the blanket and soaked the sheet with his tears.

Hannah wrapped her arms around the boy as Paul took the phone back from his wife.

"There's another boy in the woods with possible injuries, and their abductor. Yes, I won't let this boy out of my sight ma'am." He handed the phone back. And placed a hand lightly on the boys shoulder. "Henry we're going to find your friend, what's his name?" The boy peeked his bloodshot blue eyes from the sheet

"J-Jack." Henry said pulling his head completely out "His daddy's in the FBI too."

He looked up to his wife who repeated Henry's words into the phone.

"Are you thirsty Henry?" He asked handing him the water bottle. "I'm going to take a look at your head, okay?"

Henry nodded taking a sip from the plastic bottle. Paul lightly brushed the disinfectant wipe against the bloody matted down area at the top of Henry's head. Ten minutes past by as the family continued to nurse the boy, giving him a few crackers and another blanket to make him comfortable. Paul looked up into the sky when he heard the light thudding of a distant chopper heading towards them. He bent down to meet the small child's blue eyes.

"Do you hear that Henry?" He asked getting a nod in response. "That's a helicopter that's going to take you to your mom." Henry's eyes widen at the man's words. The small boy latched onto the man squeezing him tightly in a hug. Paul hooked an arm around the small boy's back and pressed lightly.

A few minutes later and a huge bright spot light shone down on the McHenley's campsite.

"Susan, you, Hannah and the boys stay here. I'm going with Henry and then I'll be back soon." Paul said looking up at Susan who nodded in response. The helicopter landed in a small clearing about 20 yards away, Paul picked Henry up in his arms and walked towards the chopper minding his feet to not trip over stray logs and exposed roots.

"He's got a head wound that is still seeping blood, and other minor cuts and bruises along his extremities." Paul yelled to be heard by the paramedic rushing to his side with a gurney over the loud thumping of the blades of the copter. Paul gently placed Henry on the gurney and helped the paramedic load him into the helicopter. He sat on the bench while paramedic tended to Henry on the flight to the hospital.

* * *

Henry laid asleep in the bed with an IV drip hooked up to him giving him fluids. Paul sat beside him staring at the sleeping boy as he waited for the FBI to arrive. A doctor entered the room, and Paul stood up quickly in response.

"I'm Dr. Tolsen, you're the one that found him in the Shenandoah National Park correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Did you know this boy?"

"No sir."

"Did you know that his mother works for the FBI?"

"No sir I did not, until he told me."

"Do you know who abducted this boy."

"No I don't" Paul said his tone becoming more agitated. "My daughter found him completely exhausted hiding in a bush, his lips were turning blue so I moved him in front of our campfire and covered him in blankets. He told me he escaped, and that he had a friend that was still being hurt by a woman. He told me that his mom and his friend's dad worked for the FBI; I have never met this boy in my life. And I sure as hell am not connected with a child abductor. I am a decorated Navy SEAL Officer, and I don't like what you are implying with this interrogation."

"I know your not, it's just standard protocol for all missing children brought into a hospital."

Two police officers entered the room taking the attentions of both men.

"The FBI's BAU Unit is here." One of them said

"Why is the behavioral analysis unit working this case?" Paul asked just as a blonde woman pushed into the room. He watched her limp quickly to the bed, his eyes couldn't help but wander over her exposed skin noticing the fresh scarring, and bandaging covering most of her skin. She went right to the boy's side taking his hand within both of hers and brushing his hair back to place a kiss on his forehead. Two more agents walked into the room, one dark skinned and built like a football player, the other a lanky man with a quirky demeanor.

The dark toned man held out his hand to Paul, "Special Agent Derek Morgan."

"Commander Paul McHenley." Paul said grasping the man's hand firmly and giving a short shake.

"This is Dr. Spencer Reid" Paul held his hand out for the doctor to shake, and he gave a small wave before putting his hands in his pockets.

"and that is Agent Jareau." Morgan said motioning to the blonde crouched over the bed. JJ rose from the hospital bed and walked over to where the four men were standing. Paul held out his hand to the woman, who embraced him in a hug.

"Thank you." she whispered in his ear before letting go

"I just did what any father would do, ma'am."

"I'm Dr. Tolsen, I was on call when Henry arrived." Dr. Tolsen said aloud

"My name is Jennifer Jareau, that is my son Henry LaMontagne ."

"Ma'am," Tolsen nodded. "Henry came in with a minor head wound, that needed three stiches, no concussion thankfully, he was slightly hypothermic as well as dehydrated and malnourished, he has an IV drip which is rehydrating him as well as bringing his core body temperature back to normal levels. He had minor scrapes and bruises along his arms and legs. However, he did sustain a cracked rib on his left side, which we have treated with some children's pain medication. When he wakes up we'll try some soft foods to help with the malnourishment."

"Thank you." She said, he gave her a nod and then another to the other men standing near her before walked out of the room. JJ turned her head back to the three men; she noticed Paul staring at her wounds.

"I'm sorry, I-" He began after being caught staring

"It's alright. Myself and Agent Morgan were abducted three months ago and subjected to brutal torture, and the same man that took us was behind the abduction of Henry and another boy."

"Jack." He said with a raised eyebrow to make sure he was on the same page.

Morgan straightened himself and looked up at the mystery man, who seemed to know more about the investigation.

Paul saw the tensed man and raised his hands in compliance. "Henry told me about Jack, he said that Jack told him to run while he stayed behind to fight off the woman that had abducted them." He said explaining for himself, JJ placed her hand over her mouth in disbelief.

"They could still be in the woods." Reid leaned over to Morgan and whispered softly.

JJ looked over to the two men, "Go. I'll call Hotch. Find Jack." The two men nodded and jogged out of the room leaving JJ alone with Paul.

"You're son's a fighter. He ran until his body couldn't go any farther." Paul reassured the woman chewing on her bottom lip deep in thought. She gave Paul a small smile, but remained silent.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you and your boy." He said again "No family should ever have to go through something like this."

JJ knelt beside her sleeping child and threaded her fingers through his blonde hair. "Our battle isn't over yet." She whispered looking up at the man hovering by the window. "Where did you serve Commander?"

"Afghanistan and Iraq."

"Are you or did you ever suffer from PTSD- oh I'm sorry I shouldn't- I'm overstep-?" she fumbled on her words as they blurted out from her mouth, he gave her a smile as he interrupted her

"No don't it's quite alright. Uh, yes ma'am, but I've learned how to cope with it. The Good days, and the bad..." he trailed off looking out the dark window.

"How?"

"Ma'am?" he asked turning around breaking his daze.

"How did you learn how to cope with it?"

"Therapy, talking with others who've experienced what I've experienced" He paused seeing a tear roll down her face, he took in a deep breath and walked to the other side of the hospital bed. He knelt down to look into her eyes. He placed his hand on top of hers that was lying on Henry's leg. "And a whole lot of love and support from my family. You both will get through it, you just can't give up, and you need to be open to support."

"Thank you." She choked; he gave her a warm smile and stood up and grabbed a piece of paper from the back and scribbled something on it. He folded it neatly and walked back to the foot of the bed.

"If you ever need anything ma'am" Holding out his hand with the paper, which she took and he held onto her hand and gave it a small shake. "Please don't hesitate to call." He gave her a nod and left the room, taking one last glance at the two before disappearing down the hall.

* * *

Izzy dragged Jack along in the woods, long into the night. She grunted and kicked a rock in anger and turned around when she reached a giant ravine. "I'm going to kill that little-" She stopped hearing a distance thumping, her eyes widened at the sight of a helicopter with a giant spotlight heading in her direction. Jack struggled again with a renewed fire inside him. Izzy threw the boy against a tree, making his head snap back and thud into the dense trunk. She pinned her arm to his neck as his eyes blinked wildly trying to recover from the blow. She pulled out her gun and pressed the barrel against his temple.

"Try to run and I'll blow your brains all over this forest. Understand me?" Jack slowly nodded his head in response. "Now walk." She growled pulling him from the tree and to the ground. He landed on his wrist and hissed in pain as he slowly picked himself up feeling like the world was spinning around him. "Move!" She hissed pushing the barrel of the gun into his back. He walked slowly trying to focus on a distant object to steady himself as he moved. Pain radiated from his wrist and he felt his tears roll slowly down his cheeks, he made sure to not make any noise still feeling the object pressed into his shoulder blades.

More thumping filled the air as more helicopters flew over top of them. Izzy pressed the gun harder into Jack's back making him move quicker. Jack saw the old car sitting with two doors ajar, and his heart dropped to his stomach as he realized he would never see his dad again. A light illuminated the entire area over the car, and Izzy pulled Jack behind a tree to keep them hidden.

"Shit." She whispered venomously. "Move." She snarled pushing him deeper into the shadows of the trees; she looked up at the sky watching more helicopters fill the air space above the car. "We'll just walk to the cabin."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll update on about a monthly basis, since that seems to give me enough time to write, think about my crappy writing, rewrite the chapter, and then give up while hoping it's okay for your enjoyment. Thanks again for reading.**

 **As always, review, favorite, follow, comment, suggest, message me or do whatever floats your boat.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay here's the next chapter, I hope everyone either**

 **A) Has had a nice Spring Break**

 **B) Is having a nice Spring Break,**

 **or C) Will have a nice Spring Break.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I enjoy reading all of the reviews, so again thank you so much for continuing to read this story.**

* * *

"JJ, how's Henry doing?" Reid's voice crackled through the phone.

JJ sighed with a small smile on her face as she watched her boy sleeping, "He hasn't woken up yet, but he's- he's okay. What's new with the search?" She asked biting her bottom lip; She knew her own nightmare never ceased and she could only imagine the nightmares Henry would have after this.

"One of the search teams found the car abandoned in a clearing. The other teams are searching for Lewis' cabins while my team stayed back to check the car for any clues as to where they're heading." Reid voice crackled into her ear

"Thanks for keeping me in the loop Reid, has Hotch and Rossi made it yet?"

"Yeah, they split up into some of the search groups along with Morgan, and the rest of the FBI. It's just a lot of area to cover."

"I should be out there helping." JJ sighed threading her fingers through her son's hair.

"No you need to be there with Henry." He retorted quickly

"I know but-"

"Alright JJ I got to go. One of the search dogs found something."

"Okay." She heard the line cut off and removed the phone from her ear.

JJ let out another sigh as she placed her phone on the bedside table. She felt the boy stir and looked down. "Henry?"

He grunted in pain as his eyes slowly opened. Henry's eyes widened as he recognized the face staring back at him. "M-mommy!" His voice cracked, he grimaced in pain as his ribcage flared with pain from speaking.

She leaned over and lightly hugged him as tears fell down her face.

"I love you so much Henry. I'm so sorry." She sniffled kissing his face all over as she laid him back on the hospital bed. She wiped the tears from her face and tried to remain calm as the boy frantically looked around the room. JJ saw the boy's discomfort and placed her hand on top of his.

"Henry it's okay you're safe-"

"Jack" His voice cracked "Jack, where's Jack?"

JJ stared at her son as more tears threatened to fall down her face, She bit into her bottom lip and remained silent because she couldn't give him an answer.

"Mommy, where's Jack!" Henry's voice rose with anger and pain evident in his speech.

"I- I don't know."

"Please find him, mommy, please!" He cried out grabbing on tightly to JJ's arm. "Please, mommy find Jack!"

"I will. I'll find him."

"Now Mommy! She's gonna hurt him."

"Okay." She nodded threading her fingers through the boy's blonde hair trying to calm him. "Okay, I'm going to call Daddy."

She grabbed her phone and dialed Will's number; she waited as the phone droned in her ear before he finally picked up.

"JJ?" He answered

"Did Garcia tell you-"

"Yeah, I'm heading to the hospital now. I'm about 20 minutes away."

"I don't want to leave him alone but-"

"You're gonna leave your son while he's injured in the hospital." His tone seemed harsh through the phone making JJ agitated.

"Will-" she said getting up from Henry's side and walking out into the hallway.

"No, JJ listen to me, you're just gonna abandon your boy after he was kidnapped and injured by some deranged psycho." The man's voice on the other end became louder and harsh. JJ moved the phone away from her ear as his voice grew in volume and he continued on his tirade.  
"Will just shut up!" She raised her voice to a harsh whisper. "Roger still has Jack. And they're still out there. I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"JJ it's stupid that you value your job over your own family." He sighed. His words hurt like being stabbed in the heart. She looked back into the room and saw the small blonde boy staring back at her. "JJ I'm almost there, look we'll talk about this-" Will began again after a few moments of tense silence.

"Stop. Jack saved Henry's life; he sacrificed himself so Henry could run away. If he dies, Henry will never be able to live with himself. I could be out there helping in the search, helping to find the boy who saved our son's life." She hung up the call before Will could say anything else and walked back to the door of the room. She stopped and looked at one of the officers standing by the door. "Nobody is allowed in here unless they've been cleared by the FBI."

"Yes ma'am." He answered

She gave him a nod and entered the room. Henry kept his eyes on his mom as she slowly limped into the room. She crouched next to him and placed another kiss on his forehead. "I'm going to go find Jack, okay?" She whispered

"Okay." He whispered back.

"Your dad will be here in five minutes."

"Yes mommy."

"I love you and I'll be back as soon as I find Jack." She said placing another kiss on his head before rising to leave.

She walked back to the doorway and looked back at the small boy in the bed. "I'll find him." She said before turning to leave she gave the officer another look, and he quickly straightened himself putting one of his hands on the butt of his gun. "No one will be permitted into the room unless they have clearance from the FBI, ma'am." He repeated turning his head to the blonde hesitating to leave. "Nobody will touch your boy, Agent Jareau." He whispered. JJ nodded and briskly limped down the hall.

* * *

Reid clicked on a flashlight as he meticulously searched the small abandoned car. "Agent Reid." A voice boomed from outside the vehicle "I think I found something."

Reid climbed out of the car and moved to the male officer standing at the edge of the tree line. "What is it?" Reid asked walking up to him.

"Two sets of footprints." He motioned with his light "One that looks to be like a child's footprint. And another to be an adult."

Reid crouched lower to the ground to see the prints; he positioned himself to be in the direction the prints were facing. "If it was Izzy Rogers and Jack, then they were about to drive away, but I think we interrupted them." He rose from the ground as the sound of a car approached from the road. "Stay here." He ordered the officer before walking to the road where a black SUV parked. He stopped and his eyes widen as he watched a blonde limp out of the vehicle.

"What are you doing here?" Reid asked throwing his arms in the air as she walked around the car.

"I couldn't not help. And Henry was adamant about me being here searching for Jack than in that hospital room with him."

Reid huffed at her response. "Besides maybe I'll see something your big brain overlooked as important." She winked walking past him to the car.

Reid gave a small smile and turned to follow her. "Actually Officer Grekov, found something by the tree line." He said pointing to the police officer leaning against a tree. The officer quickly straightened up when the agents turned their attention to him. JJ hobbled over to the man with Reid close behind watching her intensely.

Officer Grekov turned on his flashlight and shined it on the footprints he had found. JJ awkwardly crouched down to examine them without being in too much pain. After a few seconds, she turned her head to Reid. "Have you tried to follow the footprints?" She asked

"I was about to when I heard you driving up the road."

JJ rose to her feet and wobbled a bit, Reid instantly jumped to her aid balancing her. Her body tensed at his touch, but he continued to stabilize her. "Maybe you should stay back."

"I'm fine, just came up to fast." She said as she shrugged off Reid's hands. "Let's go."

Officer Grekov led the way with his flashlight sweeping the ground slowly for any more prints. JJ and Reid walked together behind him thoroughly searching the ground for any disturbance.

Grekov stopped and knelt down to closely examine the ground. JJ and Reid came up behind him as he spoke. "These leaves have been disturbed recently." He pointed at some dried leaves that were overturned and covered in mud. "But there's no way to tell its Rogers and the boy."

JJ grimaced, as all hope to find them seemed to be dwindling with every passing moment. "We need to split up to cover more ground looking for tracks." She said trying to figure out some way to get a break. Reid looked at her hesitantly.

"JJ, I don't know."

"Reid, all three of us searching in the same area isn't going to be as productive as splitting up."

Reid sighed; he knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind. "Okay." He nodded.

JJ began to walk away from the two men standing over the disturbed leaves. Reid reached out and placed a hand on JJ's shoulder to stop her, and he felt her quickly tense at his touch again. He removed his hand quickly, and placed both his hands at his side. "Don't try to push yourself to the edge." He whispered with a small smile. She nodded and then gave him a small smile back, before turning back around and walking into a dense patch of trees.

* * *

JJ kept scanning the ground from anything that looked like it had been moved recently. She stopped as sharp spikes of pain flared all over her. She closed her eyes and grimaced, as the pain didn't seem to be subsiding, she grabbed her side where the pain radiated the most, and leaned back against a tree and took a deep breath to calm herself. JJ jumped when she heard a branch snap near her. Her hands instinctively grabbed her gun and held it in the direction of the noise. Her eyes scanned the tree line searching for the origin of the noise; she slowly stalked forward trying to remain silent as she searched for the source of the sound.

She quickly twisted around a tree with her gun aimed down her eyesight, causing a searing pain to shoot through her from the sudden movement. Something flashed up ahead and made more racket as it continued to trudge ahead. JJ quickened her pace, blocking out the pain, and flickered her eyes from the ground to the moving object trying to stay silent and keep the element of surprise in her possession. She continued her quick pace shortening the distance between her and the foreign entity, JJ kept her sights trained on the moving object and stopped when she reached the edge of the tree line. Her body flared with pain all over from the overexertion, but now she could clearly see the entity, and her heart rate quickened as she confirmed whom it was. Izzy Rogers with Jack pinned to her chest pushing him forward.

She ducked behind the tree, as Rogers turned around quickly. JJ peeked out from the tree and watched as Izzy and Jack moved closer to an older cabin nestled between two patches of tall birch trees. When the two were inside the wooden house, JJ quickly hobbled since more pain shot through her as she tried to jog to the cabin. She stopped and leaned against its frame, her face contorting in agony as her body yearned for her to stop, she took in a few deep breaths and peaked into the house through the dirty window.

* * *

Izzy pushed Jack to the floor as she closed the door behind her. Jack yelped in pain as he landed on his broken wrist. Izzy aimed the gun at the back of the boy's head. "Shut up!" She screamed

Jack swiveled around on the ground and stared at the barrel of the gun, he slowly scooted back until his back pressed against the dusty wall. Izzy kept the gun trained on him as she quickly checked the other rooms for any intruders. Jack watched as Izzy moved into one of the rooms, his eyes caught a glimpse of something in the window, and he focused his attention on it. He squinted trying to see through the dirty window, and finally he realized what or rather who was just outside. Agent Jareau motioned to him to see where Izzy was, Jack moved his eyes in the direction of the bedroom to his left. Jack stood up to get a better vantage for where Izzy was when she walked out of the room. He froze in fear as the cold barrel of the gun pressed into his chest.  
"What do you think you're doing?" She growled pushing him back to the wall.

"I was… I was looking for the bathroom." Jack fumbled trying to make up a viable excuse. His eyes flickered to the window, making Izzy look back to the window. She stared at the window and turned back to boy with her brow furrowed.

"Sit down." She barked pushing him down to the floor "Get up again and I'll shoot you."

Jack quickly nodded his head and watched as the woman disappeared into another room. Jack turned his eyes back to the window confused at where the FBI agent went. There was a small creak from the back room, and Jack stiffened himself expecting Rogers to come back.

JJ silently made her way into the room with her gun drawn; she quickly scanned the room before moving over to Jack. She helped him to his feet and his eyes widen in horror

"Look out!" He yelled too late as Izzy Rogers grabbed JJ's shoulders and threw her across the room. JJ went sprawling to the floor dropping her gun.

"Oh I've been waiting for this rematch." She giggled sinisterly pulling out her gun. Izzy kicked JJ in the stomach as she was trying to get up from the floor. JJ grunted in pain as Izzy picked her up and pinned her to the wall. "Not putting up much of a fight." She snickered while smacking the gun across JJ's face causing blood to run from her nose. "Oh if only that snot nosed brat of yours was here to watch me kill you." She reveled pressing the barrel of the gun to JJ's temple.

Jack looked on shocked, as his savior was about to die. He frantically looked around the room for something he could use to help, finding nothing he took in a deep breath and charged at his captor. He knocked into her, causing her to lose her grip on JJ. The blonde agent grappled with Izzy for the gun, a shot was fired into the ceiling as the gun shifted between the two women.

"Jack. Run!" JJ yelled feeling her strength fading as she wrestled with Izzy. Jack hesitantly took a step back and then bolted out of the cabin as another shot echoed through the air.

Izzy screamed in anger as the boy escaped. Izzy threw her head forward connecting with JJ's, making her crumple to the ground. Izzy hurled her leg forward multiple times, connecting with JJ's chest and abdomen. Izzy stopped and began roaring in anger at the agent lying still on the ground.

JJ groaned in pain as the immense pain she already had only increased with every blow. JJ felt the blood from her nose and mouth trickle down her face as she laid on the ground, her eyes stopped on her gun nearby, and she slowly moved her hand as Izzy continued to yell in anger.

"I want to watch you suffer." She yelled turning back to the crumpled figure on the ground. Rogers realized what the blonde agent was doing, and aimed the gun towards the agent's hand and fired.

JJ screamed in agony as the bullet tore through her hand, and blood filled the void. Izzy stood over JJ and picked up the pistol before placing her foot on JJ's wounded hand and pressed down. JJ's screams intensified as pain shot through her body. Rogers relished the agent's agony and let out a low guttural laugh that filled the house over JJ's shrill shrieks of pain.

Izzy knelt down and turned JJ over, to see her face. Pain was evident in the blonde's blue eyes and Izzy was enjoying every moment. She pressed the barrel of the gun to her neck, and then dragged the gun down her neck and into the center of her chest.

"Where to shoot." She cooed "Where to shoot."

JJ sucked in a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart; her eyes darted around the room looking for some sort of escape. She felt the gun press into her abdomen, which immediately caught her attention.

"Isn't this what you profiled me to do?" She sneered pressing the gun harder into JJ's stomach. "To shoot my victims in the abdomen, prolonging their death." She lightened the pressure and looked into JJ's eyes "So I can feed on their pain." She licked her lips as she reapplied the gun to JJ's stomach.

* * *

"Hotch, park rangers said another cluster of cabins are just over that ridge." Morgan said jogging up to his unit chief. Hotch nodded in response but remained silent keeping his eyes on the horizon for any movement.

"Hotch did you-"

The Unit chief threw his hand in the air silencing the black man. "Did you hear that?" He asked quietly, Morgan raised an eyebrow and gave Hotch a quizzical look. The two stood still in silence for a few moments listening to the ambiance of nature. Finally Hotch broke the still silence by walking forward towards the mountain Morgan had referred to earlier.

The two continued walking in silence up the side of the mountain and stopped to see into the forest below them. Morgan pointed to 4 cabins side by side in a clearing, "Those are the cabins the park rangers told me about."

Hotch nodded and began to trudge down the hill, with Morgan right behind. A loud bang echoed in the air and the two agents instinctively ducked to the ground.

"Was that a gunshot?" Morgan asked confused as to where the loud noise came from.

Hotch grab his radio "All search teams radio in, unknown shots fired." he ordered into the device

"Team 1 all clear." Rossi's voice answered through the device, and then more voices crackled through accounting for all search groups.

"Hotch. JJ's out here alone without a radio." Reid's voice hissed through the radio.

Morgan grabbed his own radio for his belt "What do you mean she's alone!" He growled, "She's supposed to be at the hospital with Henry."

"She came to the car about 3 hours ago, we found footprints at the site and began following them, but when the trail went cold, we decided to split up to look for another trail."

"Where."

"Section 1 was the car, she went east from where we split off, three hours since then, the average person can walk about-"

"Reid!" Morgan yelled into the device

"Section 9."

Two more shots echoed, now the agents could determine where the sound came from, "Lets go." Hotch said gravely turning in the direction of the loud noise.

"Dammit JJ." Morgan hissed to himself as he followed after Hotch.

* * *

"They'll find you." JJ seethed through clenched teeth trying to focus on something other than the pain radiating from her hand and torso. "The entire FBI, DC Police, and State Troopers are out in this forest looking for you."

Izzy looked up from where she was pressing the gun with a raised eyebrow.

"And you don't have Jack as leverage." JJ continued "Killing me-"

Izzy pressed the barrel of the gun into JJ's bullet wound, making her grimace in agony. "Shut up." Izzy laughed pulling out the gun now dripping with blood. She wiped the barrel on JJ's face to clean off the red liquid. "I already knew that. That's why I haven't killed you yet." She said cocking her head to the side after finishing cleaning the weapon. "But that doesn't mean I can't make you wish you were dead."

Izzy rocked back on her heels, admiring her work. "How's Henry?" She asked maliciously, when JJ turned her head away leaving Izzy's question unanswered. The woman pressed her finger into JJ's wound. The blonde writhed with pain as the finger dug into the open wound, causing blood to pool underneath the wound. Izzy removed her finger and asked again. JJ furrowed her brow and clenched her teeth as her breathing became labored from the immense pain. She wasn't going to let this woman have the satisfaction of knowing how much pain she put Henry through.

"Why betray Curtis?" she asked through shallow breaths "Once you went rogue you became sloppy." Izzy let out a loud laugh at JJ's attempt to fluster her.

"Sloppy or just giving you enough breadcrumbs to follow me?" She giggled, JJ raised an eyebrow at the woman's comment. "Giving you Curtis was a part of the his plan, and killing Harris, letting the vehicle show up on a camera, Curtis was the one that pushed you to the cabins, which was the perfect trap. I was going to leave the boys somewhere in the woods to die from hypothermia, starvation, dehydration, animals, the details wouldn't have mattered because you never would've found them in time, because you would be looking for a cabin with me waiting alone inside. We expected your team to split into search groups to cover more area and whoever found me first was going to be the lucky winner." She stopped and laughed at the confused look on JJ's face. "You being played like a fiddle, while your boys died and their bodies never being found, while another one of your team dies a painful death at my hands. That was going to be the epitome of suffering for you, but this- this is going to be even better." Izzy stopped and aimed the gun at JJ's abdomen.

JJ remain silent flabbergasted at the words coming from her captors mouth. She felt embarrassed at the fact she had been played. She couldn't help feeling like Izzy was holding something back.

"So now what?" JJ asked trying to keep Izzy talking "Use me as a bargaining chip to escape, 'cause trust me my team won't let you walk out of here alive."

Izzy let out a loud laugh at JJ's prediction "I'm not trying to get out of here." She smiled, "I'm just waiting to kill you in front of them."

* * *

 **And that's the end of the chapter, thank you again for the continued support of my story. I'll update in about a month.**

 **As always please review, comment, favorite, follow, suggest, message me or do whatever floats your boat.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Happy April everybody! As promised, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you to everyone who reviewed in the past month. I thoroughly enjoy your comments and suggestions and don't worry _kazzyshah_ there will be more Derek/JJ stuff coming soon... some is within this chapter below, and of course more to follow in later chapters. Like I've said before either in this story or in Darkness, I suck at writing the "feelings" of the characters, especially when it comes to anything involving love or passion. Therefore, I tend to glance over those parts, but I have taken your comment into high consideration and am really trying to add in those feelings and special moments for Derek and JJ. ****Again thank you for reviewing and please continue to review! Well,**

 **Well,** **I'm done rambling in bold text for now... so onto the chapter I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Jack dropped to the ground as another shot echoed through the trees, tears streaked down his face as he landed on his wrist and felt another crunch as it pressed into the dirt. His eyes quickly scanned the ground before slowly returning to his feet. He looked back in the direction he came from and saw nothing but the dark ominous trees blocking his view of the cabin, he felt relieved that he couldn't see that place again but the immense fear of the woman coming after him remained constant. Jack began walking again but stopped when he heard leaves being crunched under a boot nearby. He quickly slid behind a tree and fell to the ground and curled into a ball. The crunching noise slowly became louder which made more tears roll down Jack's face as the noise didn't seem to grow distant. He sniffled as took in a small gasp as the noise made the crunching noise stop.

"Jack?" A man's voice asked

Jack lifted his head as the familiar voice filled his ears.

"Jack, where are you?" It asked again moving closer to the tree where the small boy was curled behind.

Jack slowly poked his head from behind the tree, wary of it being a trap. His eyes instantly latched to the man's dark brown eyes. A smile flashed across Jack's face as relief flooded through his body. "Are you okay?" Morgan asked crouching down to be at eye-level with the boy. The small child nodded in response.

He smiled coming closer to the boy. Morgan grabbed the radio from his belt and held it in front of the boy. "I think there is somebody that would want to hear your voice, Jack," Morgan said pressing down a button

"D-Dad?" Jack hesitantly said into the device. "Dad, can you hear me?" Morgan released the pressure on the button. There was a quick response.

"Hey, buddy." Hotch's voice cracked on the other end "Are you okay?"

Jack grabbed the radio from Morgan's hand and pressed the button himself, "I'm okay. How's Henry?" he asked

"He's doing just fine. I'm so proud of you, Jack." Hotch replied causing Jack to slowly drop the radio from his face. His dad wouldn't be proud of him running away when Agent Jareau needed help. "Jack?" The radio crackled from the silence

Morgan tilted his head while looking at the boy, his breath caught in his chest, as he realized why the boy couldn't answer.

"Jack do you know where Agent Jareau-" He was cut off as another shot echoed nearby, causing Jack to flinch. Morgan grabbed the radio from Jack's hand and pressed the button down.

"Shots fired. Shots Fired! Section 8." Morgan barked into the device, causing Jack to curl into a ball in fear.

"It's okay Jack, I'm right here. I'm not going to leave you here alone, I promise." Morgan reassured pressing his free hand lightly on the boys back.

"I found Jack, I need a medic for the boy," He hesitated "And another medic at my location." His stomach dropped at the thought of what or more likely who was at the end of the barrel the shots were being fired from.

* * *

Izzy kept her eyes trained on the blonde agent underneath her; she licked her lips as devious thoughts flooded her mind for how to cause maximum pain. She lightly traced JJ's new scars with the end of her revolver, causing JJ's muscles to tighten when the metal barrel skimmed over a still sensitive area of skin.

"Now where is your team?" Izzy grunted impatiently. "I guess they need a little help finding us." She giggled raising the gun in the air and firing a round into the roof.

JJ flinched slightly as the loud bang caused her ears to ring. She needed to focus on something else, anything to calm her breathing down.

 _Bullets._ She thought her eyes locking onto the revolver in Izzy's hand. _A revolver holds 6 bullets. 1 from just now. One from my hand, two from the fight. And one from when she killed Harris. She only has one round left._

A tinge of hope filled JJ at the thought of the almost empty gun being waved around above her, she just had to wait for the right moment to strike,

Izzy let out a long dramatic sigh after a few minutes a turned her head to look out the window. JJ shifted slightly at the opportunity but instantly froze when the gun's barrel shifted back to her forehead.

"Don't even think about it." Izzy growled, "Maybe I just need to shoot you again." She singsonged, moving the gun to JJ's shoulder.

"Do it." JJ seethed underneath egging her on, "Shoot me."

Izzy's smile widen from ear to ear at the words. She let out a low giggle as the gun grazed over JJ's exposed skin. Her finger curled around the trigger as she pressed the barrel into JJ's clavicle.

JJ took in a deep breath, her eyes never left Izzy's finger resting on the trigger. She watched as Izzy's eyes glanced up at the window and she took her chance. Using all the strength she had left, she grabbed the gun with her unwounded hand and pushed it towards the ceiling while getting to her feet. Izzy pulled the trigger wasting the last bullet on the wooden roof above. "You stupid bitch!" Izzy yelled yanking the gun from JJ's grip. She aimed the revolver at JJ, as the blonde agent stabilized herself against the wall. "You're dead!" She snarled pressing the trigger over and over. The dull clicking of the gun resonated through the room as Izzy realized what was going on. JJ charged at the woman hooking her arms around Izzy's torso and tackling her to the ground. She pinned Izzy to the ground by pressing her knees into woman's chest. The blonde agent curled her undamaged hand into a fist and slammed it into Izzy's face repeatedly. The woman's blood splashed out of her nose and splattered all over JJ's hand and body as she continued her barrage of blows. Izzy tried with her own arm to block the attacks but was unable to stop the blows from connecting with her nose and jaw.

She stopped when the woman underneath her seemed to go limp. JJ's face was covered in speckles of blood while her breaths were labored from the physical exertion. Her eyes remained locked on the unmoving form below her, and she watched for any signs that Izzy was still conscious. After a few seconds, she rose to her feet, wobbling from the overuse. She made her way to the window glancing out to see if anyone was coming and to catch herself from falling. She closed her eyes focusing on her heartbeat, trying to calm down and catch her breath as she waited for help to arrive.

Izzy's eyes widen as she realized the gun was empty. She started to reach for the agent's gun behind her back but was unable to pull it out of her waistband as the blonde agent slammed into her and tackled her to the ground knocking the wind out of her. She grunted in pain as her arm became pinned behind her back as the blonde dug her knees into Izzy's chest. The first hit took her by surprise and her head reeled to the side as blood dribbled down the side of her mouth. She grimaced in pain as another blow connected with her nose. She brought her free arm up to stifle the blows but couldn't stop the attacks from connecting with her face.

Izzy slowly moved the arm behind her back to where the cool metal handle was peeking out from the waistband of her pants. Her fingers snaked around the hilt of the gun as she let her head fall to the side after another hit. Izzy felt the woman on top of her shift to her heels, as she believed Izzy was unconscious. Izzy kept her eyes closed and waited for the weight on top of her to dissipate before slightly opening her eyes.

She watched the blonde stagger over to the window and peer out looking for assistance. She slowly pulled the gun out from behind her back and aimed at the woman leaning on the wall. Her vision was dazed from the blows she received to the head, but she steadied herself peering through the iron sights of the gun. Izzy lightly pressed the trigger causing a loud bang to resonate throughout the cabin. JJ dropped to the floor screaming as the bullet connected with her thigh.

"Fuck!" She screamed clutching her leg as a pool of blood started to spread out underneath her.

Izzy got to her feet slowly and wiped the blood from her nose and lip with a smile. She laughed as she came close to the blonde grunting in pain. "I thought I was aiming for your head." She laughed pressing her shoe into the injured leg making JJ yelp in pain as more blood seeped out. "But this works too." Her eyes danced up and down JJ's trembling form, relishing the agony the blonde was in. Her gaze broke as something moved outside the window. Izzy moved over to the window and gazed out, a dark smile twisted on her face as she watched figures enclosing on the cabin.

"Finally." She laughed moving back to the blonde agent applying pressure to her leg.

Izzy grabbed JJ by her hair and forced her to stand on her injured leg. JJ couldn't help the small squeak of pain escape her lips as she applied a tiny amount of weight onto the leg. Izzy grabbed JJ's arm and twisted it behind her back holding her in place as she placed the gun's barrel to JJ's temple.

* * *

Morgan stayed next to Jack by the tree with his gun drawn, his heart was fluttering as his mind couldn't help but imagine JJ bleeding out.

"Morgan!" Rossi called out nearby, breaking Morgan's heartbreaking thought.

"Rossi." He said getting up, Jack imitated Derek's movements and rose to his feet staying by the tall man. "Did you bring a medic?" He asked holstering his gun.

Reid followed by a medic quickly scampered up to meet the two men. "Sorry, my bag got stuck in a bush." The medic huffed explaining why she fell behind. The medic's green eyes shifted from the two men to the boy, she knelt down to meet him at eye-level. "Hi there." She smiled; Jack instinctively hid behind Derek. "My name is Polly, I'm here to help." She pulled her medic bag from her side and held it in front of her. She pointed to the red cross surrounded by white. "I'm a medic, I help people with their injuries," she said placing the bag on the ground and unzipping it to reveal the contents. "See," She held out a package of gauze and a stethoscope "I'm not going to hurt you."

Jack apprehensively came closer to the woman, he looked over to Morgan who gave him a nod, and then sat down by the medical bag looking inside.

"What's your name?" She asked, her eyes scanned over the boy looking for any injuries. She noticed the wrist he was shielding, as he answered "Jack."

"Okay Jack, can I take a look at your wrist?" She asked holding out her hand. He hesitated, his eyes looked down to the bruised hand he kept close to his chest and then to the woman holding out her hand with a smile, before slowly moving his hand out. He grimaced as she lightly touched his arm. "Oh yeah, that's definitely broken." She quickly dug through her bag and pulled out a splint, and some Ace bandaging. "Okay Jack, what I'm going to do is put this splint on your wrist and bandage it to keep it from moving. It might hurt a little when I put the splint on, but trust me it will help okay?" He nodded in response. She gently placed the splint on his arm and wrapped it to keep the splint in place.

The medic continued to assess Jack's injuries as Morgan, Rossi, and Reid moved off to the side. Morgan kept his eyes on the boy and the medic as Rossi spoke up. "Hotch should be here any minute now. Morgan, did Jack tell you where JJ was?"

"No, but she's close. That gun shot couldn't have been more than 2 miles away."

"Do you think she's-" Reid started but his voice faltered with saying the last words.

"No." Rossi said placing a hand on Reid's shoulder "Rogers' M.O. is a gun shot to the stomach lengthening the amount of time…" He stopped and took let out a deep sigh, knowing his words weren't helping. "She's smart and tough, a bullet isn't going to stop her."

"Jack?" Hotch's voice called out as another group of agents came into view.

The boy's head shot up instantly searching for the origin of the voice. "Dad?" He yelled back. His eyes widen as the man came into view, Jack push himself up from the ground and ran to the man. "Dad!" He yelled again as he was enclosed in the man's arms.

"Hey, buddy." Hotch's voice cracked as tears streamed down his face. "Are you okay?" He sniffled looking into the boy's eyes.

Jack nodded in response and asked, "How's Henry?"

"He's going to be fine, you were so brave.-" Hotch was interrupted by another gunshot resonating through the area.

"Hotch," Morgan spoke up right after the sound faded.

"Go." He commanded

The three men ran in the direction of the sound with the guns leading the way. Hotch pulled Jack in again as he watched his unit run into the trees. "Let's get you out of here."

* * *

JJ seethed in pain from standing on her wounded leg. Red liquid trickled down from the hole in her thigh and pooled underneath her feet. The gun pressed harder into her back as she tried to resituate her weight on one leg. A tear spilled from her eyes as the thought of her never getting to see her son again appeared in her mind. She bit down on her bottom lip trying to stifle more tears from trickling down her face, she latched onto the memory of Henry, smiling and laughing at a movie they watched together. She wished she could rewind the past year and be back at home with Henry in her arms. She hoped that seeing Henry in the hospital wouldn't be the last thing she remembered of him.

"JJ!" Morgan yelled. She took in a sharp breath as reality flooded back into focus.

"Derek." She sharply took in, her body tensed as a muffled click sounded behind her reminding her of the gun pressed into the small of her back.

"Time to die," Izzy whispered into JJ's ear as the door to the cabin busted open. Three agents spilled into the room all aiming their guns at the two women.

"Let her go, Rogers" Morgan growled which only made Izzy laugh.

"Where's your leader, wouldn't want him to miss this." She giggled pressing the gun further into JJ's back jolting her forward and making her apply pressure to her wounded leg to catch herself from falling. JJ yelped in pain as more blood oozed down her leg. Derek's brow furrowed as the woman laughed at the blonde agent's pain.

"You don't want to do this." Rossi announced,

She laughed again, "You're right I don't want to do this." She smiled as her finger rested on the trigger. "I'm done." She pressed her finger against the trigger and JJ's eyes widened as immense pain flared within her lower abdomen as a loud noised filled the air. Her body jolted and she crumpled to the ground, gasping in pain as blood flooded out from the new hole.

"No!" Morgan screamed pressing his gun's trigger multiple times. Izzy's body twitched as every shot hit her body until she fell to the ground riddled with bullet holes. Morgan dropped his gun and fell to his knees and pulling JJ into his body, his hands shook as he pressed into her bloody shirt where the red liquid was spewing out, trying to stop the stream of blood from escaping her pale form.

"Get a medic!" He screamed moving his head to the door; he turned his eyes back the blonde, tears began to fill his eyes as he cried out "JJ stay with me!"

"Derek." she squeaked, her hand shook as she placed it on top of his hands. Her eyelids grew heavy as dark spots began to fill her eyesight. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the darkness beckoned her.

"Goddammit, where's my medic!" He screamed, "JJ, look at me, don't close your eyes Please don't close your eyes." Tears streamed down Derek's face as the woman he loved was slowly losing blood.

"I love you JJ, please don't-" he pleaded he removed one of his hands and touched her cheek, streaking her face with her own blood. "Just hold on. Please"

"De-" Her voice strangled out, "I-" She tried to speak but didn't have the energy to finish. "I lo-" Derek bit his lip as more tears streaked down his face wetting his shirt below, "I know. I know." He placed his hand in hers and intertwined his fingers with hers, she lightly squeezed it, and he squeezed back. "Don't speak, just fight, JJ, just fight.-" his voiced lowered to barely a whisper as his voiced was choked off by more tears streaking his face.

Her eyes grew heavier as more blood soaked through her shirt and pooled underneath her, she tried to keep her eyes focused on Derek's face above her, but the surrounding darkness was slowly destroying her grip on life. Her hand slowly relieved her grip as her body yearned for her to give up. "No, no, no, JJ please don't let go, please! Squeeze my hand, please! JJ No!" He yelled

Two paramedics came running into the cabin with Reid right on their heels. The two EMTs quickly opened their bags and pushed Derek out of the way to work on the blonde agent. "Gunshots to the abdomen, hand, and upper leg." The man said aloud to the other medic as she hooked wires up to JJ. The woman pressed a button on the tiny machine, JJ was wired to, and small lines and numbers lit up the screen. "Pulse is weak. We need to move her now."

"I need to stabilize this wound." The man replied pressing more gauze into her stomach, which instantly turned the ghostly white fabric into a dark red.

"Justin, now." The woman said gravely "BP is dropping, Pulse is-" She stopped when the little machine began a steady shrill noise. " I need to shock her." She said frantically while she pulled out pads and ripped open JJ's shirt. "Clear!" the man pulled away and watched as the blonde agent's body jumped from the electricity flowing through her.

"JJ! Come on, come back to me." Derek yelled as the steady noise continued. "Please."

"Clear!" the woman yelled again causing the blonde's body to jolt again.

"Pulse is back." The man said aloud as a tiny beep resonated from the machine.

'We need to move now." The woman said pulling the backboard next to the blonde's still body. "1.2.3" the two EMTs moved JJ onto the board and lifted her from the ground.

Derek took in a sharp breath before following right behind the two paramedics carrying JJ. A helicopter, ready to take off, was waiting for them outside. Derek climbed in with the paramedics, who continued working, where they had left off inside the cabin, on JJ to maintain her weak pulse.

* * *

Rossi and Reid watched as the red helicopter hovered above the trees until all that was left was the faint thump of the blades. Rossi turned back around to take in the scene before him. Blood streaks stained the back wall, and pools of red littered the floorboards, and shards of wood were embedded within the crimson puddles. Reid remained focused on the sky, not wanting to turn around to see the blood-filled cabin behind him. Five crime techs walked up to the porch with cases in gloved hands. They stopped on the stairs and looked up at Reid who remained steadfast in the doorway. Rossi gave Reid a pat on the shoulder and moved him into the room, forcing him to face the horrors in the wooden room. The crime techs scurried inside and began taking photos and samples of everything in the room.

Rossi looked down at his phone and then turned to Reid. "Hotch went with Jack to Page Memorial, he's going to need surgery on his wrist, but besides that he's going to be okay."

Reid didn't respond, his eyes and mind focused on the large pools of blood on the ground and the condition of his friend in the helicopter. Two coroners placed Izzy Rogers body onto a gurney and covered it with a yellow tarp. Rossi watched the two wheel the gurney out of the house and let out a small sigh of relief that Her and Curtis' reign of terror was over. Reid didn't take notice of the body being removed from the room; he just remained mesmerized by the blood that painted the floor.

Rossi could tell that the young doctor was shaken up by the scene and moved to block his view of the blood on the ground. "I'll finish up here, why don't you go to Page memorial and meet up with Morgan, Hotch, and Garcia."

Reid nodded and turned to leave, his eyes still glued to the floor. Rossi blocked him again, "Go." He said gravely, refocusing the doctor's attention. Reid quickly descended the stairs and hurried over to the park rangers' convoy. Rossi turned back to the dark room and began to analyze the scene before him, trying to figure out what had occurred before he arrived.

* * *

"Any update?" Reid asked entering into Henry's hospital room. Derek sat in a chair close to the back wall with Garcia beside him while Will sat next to Henry's bed. Will looked up and rose from his chair. "I think this conversation needs to be outside." He said.

Morgan nodded; he patted Garcia on the hand and slowly rose from his seat following the two men out of the room, leaving Garcia with Henry inside the room. Will shut the door after Morgan was out of the room and turned to the two agents. Morgan spoke up to answer Reid's question "She's still in surgery." He paused taking in a deep breath before continuing, "Her heart stopped two more times while on the care flight. It uh… It doesn't look good." His voice cracked at the end and he closed his eyes as the words felt like a stab in the heart.

Will's eyes shifted from Derek to Reid over and over as his face became a shade redder. "How is it that a woman already severely injured was out there alone?" he spat out after a few moments of silence.

Reid's head instantly dropped; he shook his head repeatedly before looking back up at the two men. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have let her go off alone. She suggested that-"

"Stop! She was clearly not in the right mind, Henry was taken away from us, JJ was tortured, she's preg-" Will's voice faltered for a second as the word couldn't voice itself "She had to interrogate the man that did all of this to her, alone. You really think a woman who's gone through so much in such a short span of time is in a clear state of mind!" His voice rose. Garcia's head popped up in the window of the door as Morgan spoke up

"Will." Morgan said trying to calm the man "It was a mistake, we were-"

"It was a fatal mistake." Will interrupted, he pointed his finger at Reid, "If she dies it's your fault." His words spewed out like poison. Will wasn't going to wait for a response from the agents; he quickly reentered the room and shut the door behind him. Garcia shifted her head from the man inside to the two outside and back completely confused at what transpired.

"Reid…" Morgan began; he stopped when the younger agent shook his head.

"He's right. I shouldn't have let her go alone. It's my fault. She shouldn't have been alone." His words slowly faded as he continued to shake his head.

"Reid. Man, please listen to me." Morgan pleaded putting his hands on the young doctor's shoulders. "It's not your fault. We were so focused on finding Jack, that everything else was unimportant, including our own safety. Nobody saw this coming. You can't blame yourself." He paused, as the man's head remained low.

"Will doesn't blame you, he's just lashing out. He's trying to place blame and find answers for everything that is still unknown." He finished. Reid brought his head back up revealing the tears the streaked his face. "It isn't your fault."

"Agents." A doctor interrupted walking up to them, both looked at the doctor with wide eyes as the man in scrubs stopped in front of them holding a surgical cap in his hands.

* * *

 **Alright, and that's the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it, I'll update by next month and might possibly crank out another chapter within May since school will be pretty much done after the first two weeks in May (...AP testing..._). Again thank you for your continued support and effort in trying to read my stories.**

 **As always, please review, favorite, suggest, comment, follow, message me or do whatever floats your boat.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello! Happy May! So close to summer for me, wow can't believe how fast school has gone by. Well like I promised here is the next chapter. I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed!**

* * *

"Agents" A doctor's voice called from the other end of the hall. He quickly walked up to Reid and Morgan and removed his surgical cap from his head. "There were complications with Agent Jareau's surgery."

Morgan went over to the closed door and knocked twice before returning to Reid's side. Will opened the door "Can you stay with him?" He asked Garcia who was rising from her seat. She stopped and gave a nod to Will, he mouthed a thank you before quickly shutting the door; Will looked at the doctor and gave a nod cueing him to continue.

"There were a few complications with Agent Jareau's surgery. She lost almost half of her blood, and 4 times throughout the surgery her heart stopped."

"Is she- did she make it?" Reid's voice cracked as he interrupted the doctor's summary of the surgery.

"Yes, I'm sorry I should've made that more clear. Agent Jareau survived the surgery. It was touch and go for quite a bit, one her lungs collapsed as we were operating, but we were able to stop the blood loss and stabilize her. It's remarkable that she survived with the amount of damage she received and the substantial blood loss. She's quite the fighter. However, because of her weakened state, we were unable to correct all of the damage, she'll need two or three more surgeries to repair the rest of the damage she sustained to her leg and hand."

"And the baby?" Will asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Because of the severity of the wound to the abdomen, we had to do an emergency c-section and remove the baby from Utero." He paused before continuing, "the baby survived the birth, however because she is only 24 weeks old, her chances of survival are very slim. Though she is stable and we believe she'll live through the night, I'm sorry to say it's doubtful that she'll survive the week. I'm also sorry to tell you that because of the severe blood loss and since the gunshot to her abdomen was so large and so low…that to stop her from bleeding out and to save the baby, we had to do a hysterectomy."

Morgan closed his eyes and had to step away from a moment shaking his head as the words settled in the silent corridor.

"So she-" Will's voice stopped as he looked back through the window where Henry laid asleep in the bed, he bit into his bottom lip as he turned back around. "She can't-"

"Agent Jareau will not be able to have any more children." The doctor explained.

"Can we see her?" Morgan asked, coming back to the group with his hands now pressing against the top of his head; his face was covered in agony from the words he had heard.

"Yes, Agent Jareau because of her critical state she is in the ICU, but for right now she's stable. If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask, my name is Dr. Sanchez."

"Thank you." Reid voiced aloud, the doctor nodded his head and turned to leave. The three men stood in silence. Morgan's face remained twisted in agony while the other two remained sullen.

Morgan turned his attention to Will was looking back at the door to Henry's room. "Are you going?" He asked.

Will looked back at the black man and shook his head once. "No, I need to stay with Henry. I can't leave him alone." Will opened the door and walked to Henry's side.

Morgan turned to Reid before he could ask the same question Reid blurted, "She needs to know." He said nodding his head to the blonde woman who was now standing in the doorway with a confused look on her face.

"Was that JJ's doctor? Is she out of surgery?" Garcia asked turning her head from side to side. "Oh no-" her breath caught in her throat as the thought of her friend dead materialized in her mind, tears began to fall from her eyes "She's- She's.."

"No, Penelope, Baby girl, she's alive," Morgan whispered pulling her into his arms. He quietly closed the door as he continued to hold Garcia against his chest.

"There were complications with the surgery, but she's alive."

Garcia pulled away to look into the man's dark brown eyes. "What complications?" She whispered softly trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Morgan's eyes filled with tears as he remembered the doctor's words. He opened his mouth, but the words stopped in his throat. Reid looked from Morgan's face to Penelope's and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She lost a lot of blood, and because of how large the bullet wound was and the location of the wound." He stopped closing his eyes as the last part of the sentence has going to be the hardest for Garcia to take in. "The doctors had to perform an emergency hysterectomy. She won't be able to have any more kids."

Garcia took a step back and leaned against the wall as the words knocked into her like being slammed into by a semi-truck. Her mouth quivered as she searched for words while her eyes filled with tears as she switched back and forth between the two men.

Morgan looked at the woman with pure agony etched on his face, "We can go see her. She's in the ICU." He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. "She's going to need you when she learns-" Garcia was already pushing off the wall trying to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. Garcia looked to Reid who took a step back.

"I'm going to tell Hotch and Rossi about JJ. I'll join you after I tell them." The young agent gave them a nod before walking away.

"Let's go see her." Garcia's voice shook as she looked up at the darker skinned man whose face was covered in tear streaks. She grabbed the man's hand and held it within hers as they walked away from Henry's room.

* * *

Hotch sat next to Jack, was slowly flipping through the channels on the TV instead of resting. Rossi sat in a chair underneath the TV constantly looking down at his phone waiting for any update on JJ.

The three sat quietly with the sound of TV shows coming in and out; Rossi kept resituating himself in his chair clearly uncomfortable. "There hasn't been an update yet?" He grumbled. "Why haven't we gotten an update?"

Hotch looked over to his friend who continued to grumble under his breath as he looked down at the tiny bright screen on his leg. Hotch was about to say something when Reid knocked on the door and came in.

Both men instantly rose from their seats and Jack turned his head to the man in the doorway.

"It's JJ." He said quickly, Rossi briskly crossed the room to be next to Reid in the doorway.

"I'll be right outside," Hotch said to Jack who looked at the three men with wide eyes. Jack nodded and watched as the three walked out of the room and closed the door.

"What's going on Reid?" Hotch asked

"JJ is out of surgery-"  
"Thank god," Rossi muttered

"But it's bad." Reid continued, "She lost a lot of blood, and there were complications with the surgery."

Reid recalled what the doctor said word for word. Rossi and Hotch remained stoic as the information was relayed to them.

"Right now she's stable in the ICU, Morgan and Garcia are there now." He finished, and the three stood in silence as the information was processed.

Rossi took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I want to be there when she wakes up." He paused looking over to his Unit Chief "Hotch?"

"Jack will want to know about JJ. Call me when she wakes up, and I'll come up."

The two nodded and walked down the hallway disappearing around the corner.

Hotch opened up the door and made his way to his son's bedside. Jack looked up at him with wide eyes full of confusion and wonder. Aaron took a seat before telling the boy the news.

* * *

"Has she woken up yet?" Rossi asked quietly walking into the room with Reid right on his heels, they both stopped suddenly when their eyes fell on the blonde covered in tubes. Reid blinked rapidly a few times as if what he was seeing wasn't real.

Garcia looked up at the two dazed men "It's a lot to take in." She breathed "But I just keep reminding myself that our sweet girl is alive and with her family."

Morgan smiled slightly, squeezing Penelope's hand. He hadn't let go since she took it in the hallway, he needed her to keep himself from cracking from the built up emotions inside.

Rossi took out his phone and sent Hotch a quick text to keep him updated before sitting down next to Reid. He looked down at his watch and read the time. 9:52 PM. He took in a deep breath as he realized how long it had been since he had last slept. 3 days of chasing after Rogers, of constantly fearing about the worst outcomes, of being in a continuous state of dread that those outcomes were becoming a reality, were finally over. He looked down again at the time. 10:38 PM. He let out a soft yawn and looked around at the people sitting in the room, Rossi could tell Morgan was trying to stay awake, but he was losing his battle with exhaustion, Garcia had her eyes closed and her head propped against Derek's shoulder. He turned his head to Reid who rested his head on his hand, as his breaths were deep and constant. Rossi strained his neck to see if JJ had awoken yet, and then slowly closed his eyes, dropping his head slightly letting his chin rest on his chest.

* * *

JJ's eyes slowly opened revealing the dark hospital room she was in. Her heart began to race as she remembered the last time she was in a similar room. She tried to take in a breath but was stopped by the tube clogging her throat. Her chest burned as she choked and gasped for air. She felt her chest fill with air systematically from the tube, but her heart rate only increased since she felt like she still couldn't breathe. The machines around her beeped frantically, as JJ tried to claw out the tube keeping her from breathing. A hand took hold of one of hers and began to rub small circles on the back of her hand. Morgan positioned himself to be in her view and continued to rub small circles on her hand. Her pulse slowly decreased as she looked into the man's dark brown eyes.

"Just calm down JJ, that tube is helping you breathe."

She tried to speak but only felt herself choking on the tube as gargling noises escaped her. Her heartbeat again intensified with being unable to speak. "Shhh. Just focus on slowing your heartbeat down. It's okay," He whispered. He looked back towards the opposite wall, "Rossi, Reid wake up." He said slightly louder causing a small stirring out of Rossi. "Go get a nurse, she's awake."

JJ's eyes strained to see who was moving around, but the tube in her throat and the cords strung across her kept her from moving her head.

Garcia moved to be opposite from Morgan, she was smiling from ear to ear.

"I'm so happy you're awake." She beamed "I wanted to be one of the first faces you saw when you woke up."

The lights in the room flashed on, causing JJ to squint from the sudden brightness.

Two nurses came into JJ's view as the checked the monitors and IV fluids.

"The tube's causing her discomfort, can we remove it?" Morgan asked the nurse next to him, JJ moved her eyes to see the nurse's response.

"I'll ask the doctor in charge of Agent Jareau, but I think we can take it out."

JJ squeezed her eyes shut trying to steady her rapid heartbeat while trying to breathe with the machine inflating her lungs. Morgan continued to trace small circles on her hand trying to ease her discomfort some. Rossi held up his phone to the agents standing around the bed. "I'm going to call Hotch and tell him she's awake." He announced before walking to the door, he stopped when a tall doctor blocked the door. "Excuse me," he politely responded before moving to the side for Rossi to exit. The doctor entered and moved to be in JJ's eyesight, two nurses entered the room after the doctor and moved to either side of the hospital bed. "Good Morning Agent Jareau." He smiled, she opened her eyes to see who the unknown voice was. "I understand that the tube is causing you so pain, the reason we had to put in the tube was because one of your lungs collapsed while we were operating on you yesterday, it was to make sure you were fully breathing while you were still unconscious. We can take it out, but let me warn you that it's going to hurt while we take it out, and breathing by yourself will also have a little discomfort for a few days. Do you understand?"

"Good Morning Agent Jareau." He smiled, she opened her eyes to see who the unknown voice was. "I understand that the tube is causing you so pain, the reason we had to put in the tube was because one of your lungs collapsed while we were operating on you yesterday, it was to make sure you were fully breathing while you were still unconscious. We can take it out, but let me warn you that it's going to hurt while we take it out, and breathing by yourself will also have a little discomfort for a few days. Do you understand?"

JJ looked at Morgan and squeezed his hand to signal her answer. He looked up to the doctor and responded for her "Yes, she understands."

"Good, and this is just procedure but, do you wish us to remove the tube?"

She again squeezed his hand a little harder this time. "Yes."

"Okay. Sir, please step back so we can remove the tube please." Morgan nodded and laid a light kiss on JJ's hand before moving to the back wall.

The nurses quickly began turning off the machine, the tube was connected to and removed the surgical tape holding it in place to JJ.

"Alright Agent Jareau, what I want you to do is try to relax, the tenser you are the more this is going to hurt okay?" JJ tried to nod and then focused on slowing her heartbeat.

"Heart rate has slowed to normal." one of the nurses said aloud

"Good. Okay now this is where it's going to hurt a little, but it'll be over quickly, just try to stay relaxed." He smiled placing his hand on hers for a second before grabbing the tube.

"3...2…" He slowly began pulling the tube out of her mouth, JJ gargled and balled her hands into tight fists as the tube was being removed. She squeezed her eyes shut and grunted and choked in pain as the tube continued to be removed from her throat.

"And all...done." Dr. Sanchez said pulling out the remainder of the tube. "Remember it is still going to be hard to breathe for a few days, but at least there isn't a machine doing it for you." He chuckled trying to ease the tension in the room. "Now I'll let you relax and get a feel for the room before I come back in about an hour or two to check back in and tell you how we will be moving forward with your treatment, Okay?"

She made a slow small nod in response. The doctor smiled and moved to the door, the two nurses quickly followed suit, until the team was alone again in the hospital room.

"Jac-" She squeaked before grunting in pain from the pain in her throat from speaking.

Morgan quickly returned to his spot by her side, "Jack's fine. Hotch is with him right now. He had a mild concussion and a broken wrist, but he's fine." Morgan answered, Garcia's eyes filled with tears at the blonde's neverending concern for others beside herself. She took a step back grabbing a tissue to wipe away the water trickling down her face. Garcia grabbed onto Reid squeezing him tightly as her tears continued. Reid slowly placed his arms on her back and patted lightly. "Let's go outside for a moment." He whispered taking a few steps towards the door with Garcia still attached to him.

Morgan and JJ watched as the two exited the room leaving them alone. Morgan focused his attention back on JJ, He placed a light kiss on her forehead before grabbing a chair to sit next to her. "You really know how to scare a guy." He smiled as his eyes filled with water.

He took hold of JJ's hand again. Morgan looked at the bluish-black spots now evident on her, he focused in on her blue eyes trying to hold back the tears as he remembered everything the doctor told him after the surgery.

"JJ-" He stopped, biting his bottom lip, trying to figure out how he was going to tell her. His eyes fell to his lap. JJ stared back at the man with a confused look, who couldn't seem to look her in the eye. She slowly moved her hand, grimacing as pain flared through her body from the movement, until it rested on his cheek. He put his own hand on top of it and looked back up into those blue eyes staring back at his.

"I'm sorry." She rasped "I shouldn't have...gone alone." He closed his eyes tightly as water filled his eyes, he lightly squeezed her hand before looking back at her. "I should've called for backup."

"I would've done the exact same thing as you." He responded, "All of the team would've-" He stopped when his eyes focused on the bruises around her face reminding him of what he needed to tell her.

"JJ your injuries-" Morgan began, his eyes drifted to her midsection covered by a blanket, JJ grabbed the blanket and shut her eyes as tears fell down her face.

"No." She gasped

"JJ-",

She blocked him out trying to focus on holding it in, but the pain came out like an uproar from her throat in the form of a silent scream. The beads of water started falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping. She moved her hands to cover her face to block her view of her stomach and Derek.

"No." She repeated softly over and over, she tightened her grip on the blanket "Please leave." She said just loud enough for Derek to hear.

"JJ it's not-" he began softly

"Leave!" She shouted, "Please I want to be alone."

Derek let out a small sigh before rising and moving to the door. He looked back at the blonde shaking like a leaf as the tears flowed freely soaking the sheet she gripped tightly. He quietly closed the door and leaned his head against the door frame closing his own eyes. He wanted to punch the wall or do anything to release the anger bubbling to the surface. Garcia and Reid walked up to the man, He opened his eyes and pushed off of the door when he heard them coming. He looked at the woman's puffy red eyes staring back at him with confusion as to why he was outside the room.

"I tried to tell her about the baby." Morgan sighed, Garcia and Reid both quickly glanced through the window seeing the blonde hunched over her stomach. Garcia took in a sharp breath as if a knife was being stabbed into her chest when she saw her friend in pain.

"What did you say?" Garcia whimpered trying to hold back more tears that were threatening to spill down her face.

"Nothing, I didn't know how to say it... Your baby is alive, but most likely she'll die before you can see her. Sorry."

"So you left her thinking the baby is already gone?" Garcia said a little flustered

Reid spoke up trying to defuse the situation "Why don't we get Dr. Sanchez, and he'll explain everything to her, and we'll be there to comfort her." Morgan nodded his head in agreement.

Garcia looked back through the window and had to wipe away the tears, with her sleeve, that spilled down her face.

The three stood for a moment watching the blonde through the glass shaking from her uncontrollable sobs, "Let's go get the doctor." Morgan said after a few moments of silence. "I can't watch her be in pain."

* * *

JJ laid silently alone in her room, she gripped the blanket on top of her stomach tightly. She couldn't cry anymore, no water seemed to be coming out, she just stared at her midsection, feeling hollow like a broken shell. She bit into her bottom lip and turned her head away trying to escape the dark thoughts that plagued her mind. She looked at the small digital clock sitting on the table next to her, _9:41 AM_ , she wondered what day it was, and how long she had been in this hospital. There was a small knock on the door and then a doctor entered the room, JJ instantly turned her attention to the man in a white coat walking towards her. He stopped at the foot of her bed and gave her a small smile.

"My name is Dr. Sanchez, I'm the doctor that removed the tube." He paused looking into the blonde's bloodshot eyes, he slowly moved to be closer before continuing, "I was also one of the surgeons that operated on you when you came in two days ago."

JJ blinked a few times in disbelief at the amount of time she had been in here.

"When you came in, you had one gunshot and multiple contusions to the abdomen and chest area, there were other gunshots to the leg and hand, you had also lost almost a third of your blood supply from your injuries. We started operating quickly, but-" He stopped when he noticed her hand already gripping the blanket around her stomach tightly. He took in a deep breath. "The first thing that we did was check for vitals for the baby, they were weak and thready so we made the call to remove the baby to try and save her-"

"Her" JJ interrupted looking into the man's green eyes. "Yes, it's a baby girl, however because of how young she is, and the injuries she sustained, it's unlikely that she'll make it through the week. But I want you to know that we have done everything we can to stabilize her." He removed his hand and continued slowly.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but because of the traumatic blood loss, the severity of the wound, and the location…" he paused "To try and save you and the baby, we had to do an emergency hysterectomy."

JJ took in a sharp breath, knowing what the doctor was saying.

"I'm sorry but you're not able to have any more children."

JJ just bit harder into her bottom lip as the words felt like a hole being torn into her chest.

"Your hand and leg will need 2 more surgeries to fully repair the damage. But after to regain full function of the hand, It will probably take 9 months to a full year of physical therapy."

He stopped watching for any reaction out of the blonde lying in the hospital bed. The woman just remained still, her hand firmly holding onto the blanket covering her stomach.

"Can I see her?" She asked after a few minutes of silence between the two. JJ slowly moved her eyes from the blanket to his eyes.

"Yes, I'll take you there now." Dr. Sanchez smiled and walked to the door. He pulled out a wheelchair and brought it to JJ's bedside. He helped her out of the bed and into the chair and pushed her out of the room.

* * *

Dr. Sanchez pushed JJ into a room full of small gurneys topped with plastic tubes, JJ took in a sharp breath at the sight. Dr. Sanchez went over to a nurse in pink scrubs who pointed to one of the gurneys near the middle of the room, and Dr. Sanchez slowly pushed the wheelchair closer to the tube. JJ bit into her bottom lip when she saw the tiny figure lying, covered in cords, inside the tube. She put her hand on the plastic and a small smile formed on her face.

"Hi." she whispered, a bead of water slipped down her cheek as she continued to watch the small form's chest rise and fall.

She turned to look at Dr. Sanchez "Can I-" she started and looked back at the baby "hold her?"

"Of course." He said motioning to the nurse who quickly came to the tube, holding a few pieces of pink fabric, and removed it. She gently grabbed the tiny form and wrapped her in the pink cloth, being careful not to pull any of the cords that entangled the child, before handing her to JJ. JJ put her finger inside the child's hand whose fingers slowly wrapped around hers. JJ smile grew as she held the child in her arms. The little girl snuggled into the crook of JJ's arm and laid still with her hand wrapped around JJ's finger.

A small frantic beeping noise started to resonate through the room, JJ looked up quickly at the two, who moved to the machine connected to the child, and back down at the baby. She watched the baby's breaths slowed and became more laborious. "Is she-" JJ started but stopped when the two people were focused on the small monitor making the noise.

Dr. Sanchez looked closely at the screens monitoring the baby's vitals. "Nurse," he said quietly. "Let's turn these machines off please." JJ watched as the woman in pink scrubs turned off the monitor quieting the frantic beeping. Dr. Sanchez turned back to JJ who was looking at him with a look of confusion. He gave her a sympathizing look and knelt down beside her chair. "If there is anything you want to say to her…" She nodded understanding what he was saying.

JJ looked down at small child's closed eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry." She lightly placed a kiss on top of the baby's head and watched as the child's chest rose slowly and then fell for the last time. She felt the hand gripping her finger loosen and she placed another kiss on her head before removing her finger. JJ bit her bottom lip holding back the tears as she looked back up to Dr. Sanchez still kneeling beside her.

"Thank you," JJ whispered and received a nod in response from the doctor.

"Take as much time as you need."

JJ looked back down at the still child and a small smile crept back onto her face. She looked back up to Dr. Sanchez, "I'm ready," She sighed lightly rubbing the top of the baby's soft head. Dr. Sanchez nodded and rose to his feet.

"Nurse," He said who right away went to JJ's chair and slowly removed the child.

Dr. Sanchez started to push JJ out of the room, she watched the nurse place the baby on the gurney, JJ kept her eyes on the still child until her view of the room disappeared.

* * *

 **Alright that's the chapter, I'll try my best to finish the next chapter before the end of May, but I can't make any promises. besides the promise that there will definitely be an update by next month. This chapter took me awhile to figure out how I wanted it to play out, I seriously had like four different endings all with different outcomes and I chose this one. I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **I am also taking suggestions for names for the baby so please review with your suggestions. PLEASE :)**

 **As always review, favorite, follow, comment, suggest, message me, or do whatever floats your boat.**


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